Charges unlikely in pay-to-play inquiry

WASHINGTON - Federal authorities are wrapping up a pay-to-play probe in New Mexico that prompted Gov. Bill Richardson to back away from serving as President Obama's commerce secretary, and criminal charges against the Democrat and his top aides appear unlikely, according to three sources familiar with the case.

Prosecutors in New Mexico sent their findings to the Justice Department in Washington, where career prosecutors reviewed the possible case and concluded an indictment was not warranted, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a law enforcement matter.

A spokesman for Richardson, Gilbert Gallegos, said in a statement that the governor was "gratified that this year-long investigation has ended with the vindication of his administration."

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the case and whether Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. played a role in deciding not to pursue charges.

New Mexico Republican Party chairman Harvey Yates Jr. said Holder should provide "transparent and honest answers" about who was responsible for the decision to end the investigation without indictments, the Associated Press reported.

Word of the investigation broke weeks after then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was accused of attempting to sell Obama's newly vacant U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Richardson, who had been named the new president's choice to lead the Commerce Department, stepped aside in January after determining that his Senate confirmation would be put on ice for months at a time when the economy was troubled.

The FBI and a grand jury in Albuquerque had been investigating the award of a state contract to CDR Financial Products, a Beverly Hills firm that had contributed more than $100,000 to the governor's political action committees.

CDR earned $1.48 million by advising the New Mexico Finance Authority on investment decisions in 2004. The largest of those contributions, $75,000, was made less than a week before CDR was selected.

Investigators had been examining whether Richardson or his deputies pressed the authority to hire CDR after receiving financial contributions from the company and its president to help register minority voters and pay for expenses at the Democratic National Convention.

Richardson was poised to become the highest-ranking Hispanic in the Obama cabinet before the probe intensified.

His second term as governor runs through 2010 and he is prohibited from a third term.