UNM professor tied to online prostitution ring

June 24, 2011

we're learning more about the role police say a former unm president played in an online prostitution ring. police arrested f. chris garcia this morning. he's now a part-time professor at unm. garcia is one of five people arrested so far in this case. police say two other arrests are pending. we have live team coverage tonight. jeff maher has reaction from unm students to the former president's arrest. but we start with heather mills at police headquarters with how investigators say garcia tried to cover his tracks in this online prostitution ring. investigators say they were able to confirm garcia's identity yesterday.. but had been following his actions for months. they say garcia was a moderator of the site.. his responsibility was to make sure the johns weren't undercover officers. there are about 14-hundred members on the southwest companions website.. 12-hundred of them are men.. and police say garcia was one of the top dogs in charge. "the true identity of "burquepops" is f chris garcia from the university of new meixco. thru their investigation they've learned that mr. garcia was a moderator on the soutwest companions website and he had been actively attempting to remove postings and remove any information that linked him to the website." garcia was arrested this morning at his home near tramway and indian school. he's in jail right now.. facing charges of promoting prostitution.. conspiracy and tampering with evidence. investigators say this was a cash operation.. meaning the john would pay the prostitute... there's no exanchge of funds between the site and the users. live from apd headquarters, heather mills, kob eyewitness news four. today shockwaves spread across u-n-m's campus. many students and staff are in disbelief that someone like garcia is accused of having a hand in an online prostitution ring that stretched across the country. jeff maher continues our team coverage live from u-n-m. jeff. students i spoke with here on campus say garcia's arrest is shameful, embarrassing, and is certain to leave a black eye on u-n-m for a very long time. his office door is shut and locked on the second floor of the political science building. the staff who works with him did not want to comment on the arrest. but students certainly did. many students simply found it amazing that someone with education and tenure like garcia, would turn to help run an online prostitution ring. i think it's disappointing for a student like me who struggles economically to know that these people in high positions in the school that make these huge salaries find themselves needing more coming up at six, we'll tell you more about how students are reacting to the arrest. we also made a stop at garcia's home in the northeast heights. live at u-n-m. jeff maher. kob. eyewitness news 4. u-n-m released a statement saying it will fully cooperate with police on the investigation. garcia was named interim president of unm in 2002 while the university searched for a replacement. he's been a member of unm's faculty and administration since 1970. garcia is also an alums -- he received both his bachelors and masters degrees from unm. the first man arrested in this online prostitution ring is out of jail tonight. as we've reported, new jersey physics professor david flory was arrested sunday. albuquerque police say flory bought the website in 2009 -- and ran it out of his homes in new york and santa fe. flory bonded out of jail yesterday. a roswell woman also connected to the case is expected to be extradited to albuquerque on monday. investigators say 28-year old cara garrett is the former owner of southwest companions. she's accused of harassing a woman online who she believed helped authorities take down flory.