A former state Cabinet secretary who was arrested for drunken driving three days after being named to a post in the Obama administration will assume the federal job in the next few weeks, according to a news release.

Cindy Padilla, 48, pleaded no contest to her first DWI in a plea deal in Santa Fe Municipal Court last month and received a deferred sentence, said city prosecutor Alfred Walker. She was sentenced to 364 days of probation, 24 hours of community service, DWI school and $311 in court costs, and she must install an ignition interlock in her car for a year, Walker said.

"It's what I offer on every first simple DWI," Walker said. "It's typical for someone with their first DWI."

Padilla agreed to the sentence Nov. 19 and has already completed her community service, Walker said. The case was disposed relatively quickly because Padilla's attorney said she wanted to get it done as soon as possible before starting work in Washington, D.C., he said.

Padilla — former head of Santa Fe Beautiful and of the city's Solid Waste Management Division — served as secretary of the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department until Oct. 26. She earned $105,000 a year.

She was stopped at 12:26 a.m. Oct. 24 by a city police officer near the intersection of Guadalupe Street and Montezuma Avenue for driving 30 mph in a 20 mph zone. Padilla told the officer she'd had one margarita at El Farol, a Canyon Road bar and restaurant. Her breath alcohol content was 0.08, the legal driving limit. Her second breath test was a 0.07.

Three days before Padilla was stopped, the Governor's Office announced that she had accepted the job of principal deputy assistant secretary at the Administration on Aging in Washington, D.C. She was scheduled to assume her new duties Nov. 16. After her arrest, Padilla asked that her start date be postponed until she resolved the DWI situation, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health Human Services said at the time.

According to an e-mail Wednesday from the same spokeswoman, Padilla will join the Administration on Aging "within a few weeks."

Padilla's lawyer, Dan Marlowe, didn't return several messages left Wednesday.

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