Eddy Fabela, who has been the fire chief in Eunice for some ten years, is in trouble with the law. Fabeula is accused of embezzlement – the stealing of taxpayers’ money by using City of Eunice credit cards for personal purchases.
Although the Eunice Fire Department’s webpage lists Fabela as its fire chief, a KRQE breaking news report states that Fabela is the city’s “now former” fire chief.
“[Fabela] is accused [of] using city credit cards to run up thousands of dollars of charges for things like gas, boots, and sunglasses for his personal use,” states the report.
Eunice Mayor Billie Hobbs is shocked. Mayor Hobbs said that it “was a pretty good shock for me … and the rest of the community. … I hate that it happened.” Mayor Hobbs also commented that the city must work on having better accountability to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future.
According to the criminal complaint, from 2017 until early in 2022 Fabela used city credit cards to buy fuel not only for his but also for his wife’s and his daughter’s cars. The KRQE news report states that Fabela did more than buy gas for personal vehicles. ” He is accused of making other fraudulent charges, including buying ostrich cowboy boots, high-end sunglasses, and even bought a laptop.”
“We’ve got to do what we got to do for the city to maintain the way we run business and everything,” states Mayor Hobbs in the KRQE news report.
According to the KRQE news report, a warrant has been issued for Fabela’s arrest. The criminal complaint has “… tracked nearly seven thousand dollars in fraudulent gas charges.”
Money Problems With Lea Regional Hospital
In 2019, Fabela and his wife, according to court documents, were summoned for failure to pay the Lea Regional Medical Center bills mounting to thousands of dollars. As a result wages were garnished.
Court documents also point out that Fabela formerly had problems repaying a loan and that his wages from the fire department were garnished to settle that debt.
As of this article’s publication, no information has been provided about the City of Eunice’s plans for securing a new fire chief.
