Bernalillo District Attorney Kari Brandenburg says she is partly to blame for the release of a man accused of killing a Rio Rancho police officer.
Twenty-eight-year-old Andrew Romero is now facing multiple charges, including murder, in the May death of officer Gregg Benner.
In January, Romero had been in jail on charges including armed robbery, aggravated assault, drug trafficking and car theft.
Brandenburg says that Romero's prior criminal history seemed to be drug-related, which is why she agreed to a plea deal that would take Romero out of jail and into a drug rehabilitation center near Espanola.
But Romero never made it to the rehab facility.
A supervisor in Brandenburg's office signed off on the plea deal but had been unaware that Romero had been convicted of manslaughter in 2006.
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