Just two weeks after he pleaded guilty to several felony charges and agreed to resign from the state Public Regulation Commission, Jerome Block Jr. is in jail.

The former elected official was booked into the Santa Fe County jail at 12:10 p.m. Friday after a source said he failed a drug test and violated one of the conditions of his release Thursday.

Block was taken into custody Friday morning by Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies while at the First Judicial District Courthouse, where he was visiting the court's Adult Drug Court administrator.

The remand order filed Friday did not identify the drug that caused him to fail the test. It only stated that "the defendant has violated the regulations of the Adult Drug Court Program."

The 34-year-old La Puebla resident, who has acknowledged a problem with prescription drugs, promised as part of his Sept. 28 plea agreement to enter drug court with state District Judge Michael Vigil.

In exchange for his guilty pleas, and an agreement to resign from the PRC and never run for political office again, Block was given an opportunity to avoid jail time if he successfully completed the drug court program, which often takes 12 to 18 months.

His crimes included, among other things, fraudulent use of a state-issued gasoline card, embezzlement and identity theft. He also pleaded guilty to three felony charges for violating campaign-finance laws and embezzling public funds during his 2008 campaign.

He potentially faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison.

"This is obviously not a good start toward honoring his commitment to successfully complete drug court under terms of his plea agreement with the state," said New Mexico Attorney General Gary King, whose office handled Block's prosecution. "Mr. Block must first be accepted and then complete the drug court program before he can even request any considerations from the trial judge at sentencing; I will enforce the agreement accordingly."

It is unclear whether one dirty urinalysis test will result in Block going to prison. It is not grounds for automatic disqualification from the drug court program. But he will have to appear before Vigil on this violation, and the judge will have to decide on Block's punishment.

A message left at the office of Block's attorney, Cammie Nichols, was not returned Friday.

The remand order indicates Block will be released from custody 9 a.m. Saturday. He will then have to appear before Vigil, probably next week, on the violation. District Judge Raymond Ortiz signed off on the remand order in the absence of Vigil, who is on vacation this week.

Block officially stepped down from his $90,000-per-year position on Oct. 7. He was seen at the First Judicial District Courthouse in downtown Santa Fe on both Thursday and Friday.

Block is the second member of the commission to resign in a little more than a year because of a felony conviction. Commissioner Carol Sloan of Gallup stepped down in April 2010 after a conviction for battery.

Block was charged with credit-card fraud for making illegal charges on a state gasoline card and identity theft for using a state credit card issued to another PRC employee. Court documents state Block charged nonfuel items such as chimichangas, cigarettes and Gatorade on the state card.

He pleaded no contest to a charge of embezzlement for taking a car from a Santa Fe auto dealer for a test-drive in July and never returning it.

Block's father, Jerome Block Sr., a former member of the Public Regulation Commission, also was charged in the election fraud case. However, prosecutors dropped those charges because his son took responsibility for falsifying a campaign-finance report.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at SantaFeCrime.com.