Logan mayor fined for illegal contracting work

The mayor of Logan was fined $800, given a suspended 90-day jail sentence and put on unsupervised probation for illegally working and bidding as an electrical contractor without a license during a plea deal Tuesday afternoon in Tucumcari magistrate court.

David Babb, 63, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the Construction Industries Licensing Act — one for working as a contractor without a license and the other for bidding as a contractor without a license. He was charged in May after the state of New Mexico filed a criminal complaint in magistrate court.

Babb agreed to pay separate fines of $500 and $300, along with court costs and fees, within 30 days for the two guilty pleas.

Magistrate Judge Karen Mitchell, issuing the sentence via live-video hookup, also gave Babb two concurrent 90-day sentences in the Quay County Detention Center that would be suspended if he followed all state and federal laws and complies with probation terms.

Babb also is required to “not engaged in any conduct whatever that would imply to the public that TMZ Electric is probably licensed” or that Babb is licensed or certified. If the director of the Construction Industries Division finds evidence Babb is contracting without a license, he must serve the remainder of his sentence in the county jail.

Babb and his attorney, Warren Frost of Logan, declined to comment after the sentencing.

Sally Galanter, an attorney for the Construction Industries Division and Regulation and Licensing Department who prosecuted Babb, also declined to comment. District Attorney Tim Rose named Galanter as a special prosecutor in the case.

According to the complaint filed by criminal investigator Dean Cooper, Babb, doing business as TBZ Electric, on or about May 25, 2017, acted as an electrical contractor in the village of Logan without a valid license.

The complaint stated Babb on April 12, 2017, relinquished his contractor’s license and agreed to pay a civil penalty of $10,000 to the Construction Industries Division after being accused of installing HVAC equipment and connecting propane piping as an unlicensed contractor. The Construction Industries Commission on May 17, 2017, ordered the revocation of the license for TBZ and Babb’s certificate.

“Through a freedom of information request, Construction Industries Division (CID) obtained copies of invoices and checks from the Village of Logan starting on May 25, 2017, and continuing until February 15, 2018. The invoices were billing invoices for electrical work for the Village of Logan, as the customer, and were submitted by TBZ Electric and TBZ Inc. In total there were eleven (11) invoices totaling $1,085.72 in billed work, and there were seven (7) checks issued for a total paid to TBZ Electric Inc. of $1,090.72,” the complaint stated.

Babb last year regained his Logan mayor’s post when he defeated TJ Smith by five votes out of more than 340 cast during the election.

Babb previously resigned his post in February 2017 amid the state’s investigation into Babb’s former business partner, John Harley.

Harley remains at large with multiple misdemeanor counts of working as an uncertified journeyman and contracting without a license. Harley was accused of illegal installation of heaters in Quay County. Babb, as a licensed electrician at the time, was accused of giving Harley the heaters for the installations.