Jerome Block Jr. must pay $21,000 for lying about how he spent public campaign funds and misusing public money, the Secretary of State's Office said Monday in a letter that scolds the Democratic nominee for a state regulatory post.

Of that amount, the state Public Regulation Commission candidate must pay $11,000 in fines for three violations of the Campaign Practices Act and the Voter Action Act. The letter also said Block must return $10,000 in public campaign funds he received.

"Your handling of public money has raised serious concerns about your campaign's activities relevant to the Campaign Practices Act and the Voter Action Act," Secretary of State Mary Herrera, a fellow Democrat, said in a letter dated Friday. "Using public funds in the manner described above undermines the Voter Action Act and unnecessarily drains the treasury. Moreover, your attempts to hide your wrongdoing have delayed the Secretary of State's Office in its attempt to enforce the Election Code."

Block and his spokesman, Jonathan Valdez, couldn't be reached for comment.

Block has received $101,508 in public money for both the primary and general elections, but none of that money may be used to pay the fine or reimburse the state, Deputy Secretary Don Francisco Trujillo II said. "It must come of out of their own pocket," Trujillo said of Block's campaign.

Herrera said it's the first time a candidate has been fined under the state's voluntary public financing system, which is available only to those running for PRC or statewide judgeships.

On Sept. 24, Block admitted lying about $2,500 that he reported was paid to San Miguel County Clerk Paul Maez's band, Wyld Country. For several weeks, Block maintained publicly that the band had performed at a May 3 rally, but he filed a report that stated he had made the expenditure in June, after he had won the primary. He later told the truth after two band members said there was no such performance.

"Although you have indicated to the Secretary of State that you intended, as early as April, to pay Wyld Country for a performance, the evidence suggests otherwise," Herrera's letter says.

Block could have faced a $20,000 fine for breaking laws related to the band, but the Secretary of State's Office, in consultation with the Attorney General's Office, cut those fines in half, to $10,000 — $5,000 for lying on a campaign finance report and $5,000 because Block improperly used primary election funds to write the check to the band after the primary election season had ended.

The remaining $1,000 in fines stems from Block giving $700 of his public campaign funds to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is trying to get rid of her multimillion-dollar presidential campaign debt.

"As you know, Hillary Clinton suspended her presidential campaign on June 9, 2008," the letter says. "Your contribution to Senator Clinton on August 25, 2008 was neither a campaign contribution nor a 'campaign-related purpose.' Using New Mexico public funds to help a national office candidate retire campaign debt is a clear violation of the Voter Action Act."

State law could have required Block to pay back all of the $101,000-plus he has received in public campaign funds. But in settling on $10,000, Trujillo said, state officials decided on roughly 10 percent of what Block received.

Block has 10 business days to respond in writing to the Secretary of State's Office's notification. If he doesn't respond, the office will send him a final notice on Oct. 31.

His opponent for the $90,000-a-year District 3 PRC position representing north-central and northeastern New Mexico, Green Party member Rick Lass of Santa Fe, who last week accused Herrera's office of dawdling, praised the decision.

"We promised there would be strong enforcement when we lobbied for it several years ago," Lass said of the public campaign financing law for PRC candidates, "and the secretary has taken her job seriously. She had the statutory authority to levy this fine, and I'm glad that she did this because we want to see public financing work."

What the Secretary of State's Office imposed is a civic penalty, but it appears the Attorney General's Office, which could decide to pursue criminal charges, is still investigating.

AG spokesman Phil Sisneros wouldn't say whether his office is still looking into the matter, but Trujillo said, "From what I know, the AG is conducting its own preliminary investigation at this time."

The five-person PRC oversees electric, gas and water utilities, telecommunications, insurance, pipeline and fire safety.

Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com. Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com.