Tagger to help clean up

Man gets probation, community service for Valentine's Day graffiti

Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican

7/8/2008 - 7/9/08

Conrad Crespin will clean up graffiti and work with youth arts programs for 200 hours of community service as punishment for a Valentine's Day tagging spree near the Santa Fe Plaza.

Crespin, a 22-year-old who makes a living selling his own artwork and waiting tables, will also reimburse three businesses and the city of Santa Fe for the cost of removing the red spray-painted graffiti he left on downtown walls and a street sign.

Those were among terms of a plea agreement entered Tuesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

"I hope your energies are now channeled to a more appropriate place," said Magistrate David Segura, who sentenced Crespin to a year and half in jail but suspended that term while Crespin completes probation and community service work.

Police caught Crespin in downtown Santa Fe in the wee hours of Feb. 14 after he painted "Amor Libre," or free love, on a gallery, a bank, a real-estate business and a traffic sign.

After he pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of unauthorized graffiti and one count of resisting arrest, Crespin thanked all the courtroom participants, including Assistant District Attorney Rod Thompson.

"I try to take every experience in my life as a learning lesson, and I have learned a lot from this experience," he said. "I don't deny the fact that this is vandalism, and I want to take responsibility for that."

Crespin's attorney, John Day, asked the judge for leniency.

"This was not what we normally see in terms of what people call gang tagging. He had this idea that what he was doing was sort of street art, and Mr. Thompson has convinced him otherwise," he said.

Thompson, who normally prosecutes drunken-driving cases, said this was his first graffiti case.

"The message 'amor libre' was not a terrible one, but clearly we all have a right to have our property protected," Thompson said after the hearing.

The prosecutor serves on the city's Board of Adjustment, and said he knows the value of the facades in the historic district and the community's appreciation for those architectural features.

Thompson said he met with Crespin, who seemed earnest, and that his attitude mattered in the plea agreement. His original plea offer, which dropped three of four charges of unauthorized graffiti and one count of resisting arrest, was for 100 hours of service. Segura doubled that number.

The judge also ordered Crespin to contact each affected business and the city to discern what it cost to remove his graffiti. In addition, he stipulated that half Crespin's community service be performed with the county graffiti cleanup program.

Santa Fe County Teen Court has administered a cleanup program for juvenile offenders since the beginning of the year. Teenagers typically perform 30 to 50 hours of community service for each offense. While for the first six months teens worked only in Santa Fe County, beginning this weekend, they will also work inside the city limits to assist in painting over graffiti.

"This really shows (offenders) how big of a problem it is to clean up," said Jennifer Romero, the court administrative assistant. "It really ties them to the mistake that they made."

Court coordinator Alice Sealey said the program has not ever allowed someone over 18 to participate, but that working with Crespin was a possibility. Crespin already volunteers with Warehouse 21 and Fine Arts for Children and Teens, both of which he plans to continue.

Last year, the city spent about $230,000 on its graffiti cleanup efforts. A new task force is working on recommendations about better ways of addressing the issue. Crespin has already been working with a subcommittee of the task force as an advocate for places where it would be legal to paint.

An image similar to what he painted on Valentine's Day even appears on a magnet commissioned by the task force to advertise the city's cleanup efforts. Only this time, the tag is crossed out.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.