A 44-year-old Pojoaque man pulled over in March for driving on a revoked license has already spent 17 days in jail for the offense, and he hasn't even been sentenced yet.

Leroy Carrillo's saga began March 19, when a Tesuque Tribal Police officer pulled him over on U.S. 84/285 for speeding, according to Carrillo, Santa Fe Magistrate Court records and online jail records. Carrillo, who had been driving 78 mph in a 65 mph zone, said he told the officer his license was revoked.

The officer confirmed the license was revoked, arrested Carrillo, then took him to the Santa Fe County jail. Online booking records indicate he was booked into the facility at 11:42 p.m. March 19.

After 10 days behind bars, Carrillo said he began telling corrections officers he hadn't yet been to court, but they told him he couldn't be arraigned until his name showed up on the arraignment list. After another three days, Carrillo said he finally talked to a woman from the state Public Defender's Office, who called the Magistrate Court to figure out the situation.

State law says that the court has 72 hours to arraign someone who has been arrested, with exceptions including holidays.

Carrillo's court file indicates the Tesuque police officer who made the March 19 arrest didn't actually file the criminal complaint against him at the Magistrate Court until March 30. Carrillo was arraigned March 31, pleaded guilty to the charge against him and Magistrate Sandra Miera let him out of jail on his own recognizance, the file indicates.

Carrillo said he spoke with Miera at the courthouse when he got out of jail April 1, and she told him he would be receiving something in the mail saying when he would have to come back to court for sentencing. A month later, Carrillo still hadn't received anything, so he went back to the court, where a clerk told him nothing could be done until he received the letter in the mail, Carrillo said.

The court sent Carrillo a notice May 28 telling him to be in court June 10 for sentencing, according to the court file. Carrillo said he never received the letter, and so he didn't show up for sentencing. The case appears to have fallen through the cracks until September, when clerks auditing the court's files turned up the case, according to the court record.

The court then scheduled another sentencing hearing for Nov. 16, according to the file. Clerks on Sept. 24 sent Carrillo a notice of the hearing, though the letter came back four days later marked "return to sender," according to the file.

Carrillo confirmed Monday the letters were sent to the correct address in Pojoaque. But since he never received the second letter, Carrillo didn't show up for sentencing Nov. 16 and the court on Nov. 30 issued a bench warrant for his arrest for failure to appear, the file indicates.

Carrillo was with a friend at Walgreens on St. Francis Drive at Zia Road on Dec. 18 when a police officer approached, he said. The officer thought the two men appeared to be up to something shady, though Carrillo said he was simply using a telephone while trying to arrange a ride home to Pojoaque because his friend couldn't take him.

The officer ran Carrillo's driver's license, discovered the arrest warrant and took him to jail, according to Carrillo and jail records. That was a Friday evening, so Carrillo spent the weekend in jail and was released Dec. 21, the following Monday.

He is scheduled to be sentenced today — more than nine months after he was pulled over by the Tesuque officer.

"I think, in all honesty, that the Magistrate Court system is in shambles," he said. "Everybody does whatever they want."

However, a court clerk pointed out Monday that the Tesuque officer waited 12 days to file the complaint. A man who answered the phone at the Tesuque Tribal Police Department on Monday afternoon advised a reporter to call back today and talk to a supervisor for answers about why the complaint was filed so late.

Magistrate David Segura said Monday that the court file indicates the court followed proper procedures in the Carrillo case.

Magistrate Court has been under fire recently after the state Supreme Court appointed a Court Improvement Team to improve paperwork procedures in the clerk's office. Paperwork in the office is frequently lost, which leads to cases being dismissed on procedural grounds.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.