BY MAIRE O’NEILL

Two former employees of Smith’s Marketplace each accused in four separate shoplifting cases in July and August will remain in jail until they can obtain electronic monitoring devices as part of their pretrial conditions of release.

Tamara Torres, 22 and Troy Martinez, 23 are each charged with several counts including shoplifting of more than $500 but less than $2,500, conspiracy to commit shoplifting and criminal trespass. Los Alamos Magistrate Court Judge Pat Casados imposed the electronic monitoring provision Friday at the request of Assistant District Attorney Kent Wahlquist.

Wahlquist said electronic monitoring would ensure that Torres would show up for Court and that she wouldn’t commit the offenses again. He said she poses a significant flight risk.

“You can see that these four shoplifting offenses that she committed with (Martinez) happened at four different times in a period of just a few weeks,” he said.

He added that after a bench warrant was issued, the couple were evicted from their apartment. He said he had been in contact with a federal agent who had gone into the apartment afterward they were evicted and had found ledgers that Torres kept where she “made plans to go places when she needed money”.

“It’s clear from basically her diary that this is how she made money. When she is hard up for cash she will commit new crimes. It may not be a violent crime, it may be shoplifting somewhere but she might go on the run again,” Wahlquist said.

He said Martinez is also a flight risk, that although the ledgers clearly belonged to Torres she referred to Martinez in them and talked about what they were going to do and then they would go do it. He said Martinez also has a case pending in Rio Arriba for fraud and asked for electronic monitoring for him also “which would assure his appearance and make sure he will not do this sort of thing again”.

Future Court appearances for Torres and Martinez have not yet been set.