New Mexico Department of Justice Announces Maximum, 30-Year Sentence for Abuser of Mary Melero
State Agency Press Release – From the New Mexico Department of Justice
Rio Rancho, NM – On Monday, a 13th Judicial District Court judge sentenced Angelita Chacon to 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence permitted under her plea agreement, for the abuse and neglect that led to the death of Mary Melero, a woman with developmental disabilities, in 2023.
Chacon was charged with Abuse of a Resident Resulting in Death, False Imprisonment, and Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping.
The case represents a significant milestone in protecting New Mexicans with developmental disabilities and securing accountability in one of the most egregious cases involving a caregiver entrusted with a vulnerable person’s care.
“Mary Melero deserved to be safe, protected, and treated with dignity,” said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “Instead, she was subjected to horrific abuse by someone entrusted with her care, and her life was tragically cut short.
“Today’s maximum sentence sends a clear message, those who abuse vulnerable New Mexicans and violate the trust placed in them will be held accountable. This case was especially egregious, and our office will continue working to ensure that people with developmental disabilities are protected and that those responsible for harming them face justice.”
The NMDOJ charged Chacon, and her co-defendant Patricia Hurtado, following Melero’s death in April 2023. In February 2023, Melero was found by Customs and Border Patrol agents in a van near the U.S.-Mexico border, severely dehydrated, drugged, and bearing open wounds and chronic bedsores with exposed bone.
In June 2025, the defendants were remanded into custody after violating release conditions by tampering with GPS monitors and contacting each other.
In addition to her prison sentence, Chacon has also been ordered to pay $3.3 million dollars, along with her co-defendant Hurtado, as restitution for her criminal actions, including $2.5 million directly to the victim’s estate. Restitution in the amount of $861,649.47 goes to the State of New Mexico while $2.5 million is to go to the estate of the victim, Mary Melero.
Melero was enrolled in the Developmental Disabilities Waiver (DD Waiver) Program, previously administered by the New Mexico Department of Health (DOH).
Chacon was contracted to provide care for Melero and were receiving approximately $5,000 a month, under the DD Waiver Program, for services that were insufficiently rendered.
In September of last year, Hurtado agreed to provide critical testimony against Chacon, pay her share of the $3.3 million in restitution, and serve five years in prison.
The NMDOJ took the lead on this case, joined by several other assisting state and federal agencies – foremost among them the El Paso FBI Field Office – the New Mexico State Police, Rio Rancho Police Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico and the Albuquerque FBI Field Office.
This case was investigated by the NMDOJ’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau (MFEAB). The New Mexico MFEAB receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $3,623,761.71 for federal fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $1,207,920.57 for fiscal year 2026, is funded by the State of New Mexico.