Resigned state Public Regulation Commission member Jerome Block Jr. should spend some time inside a prison, state District Judge Michael Vigil said Friday.

Vigil ordered Block to undergo a 60-day psychological evaluation at the state Corrections Department facility in Los Lunas before the judge imposes final sentencing for various felonies to which Block pleaded guilty last year, including embezzlement of public funds.

The 34-year-old Española-area resident, who has admitted he has a drug problem, still could be sentenced up to 4 1/2 years in prison.

"Your activities in Drug Court showed you still don't understand the seriousness of your addiction," the judge told Block. "You haven't hit bottom yet."

As a part of a plea bargain with the state Attorney General's Office last year, Block was allowed to enter the Drug Court rehabilitation program. Had he completed the program successfully, Block could have avoided any prison time and there would have been no record of his felony convictions.

However, Block was kicked out of the program after only three months because of violations that included testing positive for cocaine and for doing something Vigil said showed "complete disregard" for another program participant's need for sobriety.

Vigil told Block he needs to undergo a psychological evaluation because "maybe we're missing something."

Prosecutor Lynne Anne Maxwell asked Vigil to sentence Block to the maximum sentence under the plea deal made with the Attorney General's Office last year. Block's lawyer, John Day, asked that Block be reinstated into the Drug Court program and allowed to go to a treatment facility in Arizona for 30 days.

Block resigned from his $90,000-a-year elected post at the regulatory commission in September after entering his guilty pleas last year. His crimes were a major factor leading to an effort in this year's Legislature to amend the state constitution to raise the requirements to serve on the Public Regulation Commission.

Block pleaded guilty to embezzlement, violating the state campaign code and conspiracy related to filing false reports on how he used public funds in his 2008 election campaign by claiming to have paid a band $2,500 to play at a campaign event that, in fact, never took place.

He also pleaded guilty to charges in a separate indictment that included fraudulent use of a state gasoline card, identity theft and embezzlement.

Maxwell said the attorney general wanted the maximum sentence for Block because he had pleaded guilty to a wide variety of crimes and had been "in a position of public trust. He needs to be held accountable."

Block was "given a real big chance to turn his life around," Maxwell said, referring to the Drug Court program. "He failed miserably. He never seriously tried. ... He was terminated in three months."

Prosecutors said Block was removed from the program after he was found to be texting a teenage girl in the Juvenile Drug Court program about prescription drugs. The girl asked Block by text if he could get a certain drug. He answered her "yes."

Vigil, who has presided over the Drug Court program for 14 years, said relapses are common. "We don't expect people to be perfect," he said. But he said Drug Court can't tolerate anyone interfering with the sobriety of another person in the program.

At Friday's hearing, an emotional Block once again said he wanted to apologize to the people of New Mexico. And, as he did last month when he was terminated from Drug Court, he pleaded with Vigil: "Don't give up on me."

Once again he admitted to drug addiction. Last year he said publicly that he was addicted to prescription drugs. After Friday's hearing, his lawyer told reporters that Block is addicted to "a pretty wide range" of drugs.

When speaking to the judge, Day quoted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor whom Day described as a "big, fat, tough guy." The Republican governor recently told the New Jersey Legislature that "experience has shown that treating non-violent drug offenders is two-thirds less expensive than housing them in prison. And more importantly -- as long as they have not violently victimized society -- everyone deserves a second chance, because no life is disposable."

Vigil said he agrees with Christie but still has questions about Block.

Block also apologized to family and friends, dozens of whom were in the courtroom. "Stay strong, Jerome," one man shouted as Block was led out of the courtroom.

His father, former state Public Regulation Commission member and one-time Santa Fe County Commissioner Jerome Block Sr., who was at the hearing, declined to comment. The elder Block had been indicted in the 2008 campaign finance report case, but his charges were dropped as a part of his son's plea agreement.

During the hearing the younger Block told Vigil that he was aware that he'd tarnished the name of a family of public servants. His grandfather, the late Johnny Block, was a mayor of Española who also served in state government. "I live with it and it hurts every day," he said.

But Block Jr. told Vigil he was the cleanest he's been since he can remember. He has been wearing a GPS-tracking ankle monitor since his release from jail Dec. 22 after his third arrest for Drug Court violations.

Vigil said final sentencing for Block Jr. will be scheduled after his evaluation.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.