The fired director of the New Mexico Lottery will be getting one year's pay and six months of health care coverage as part of a deal reached with the lottery board.
The board voted during a closed meeting last week to immediately terminate Tom Romero's contract. No explanation was given for his firing and he has declined to discuss it.
State lottery officials on Friday released new details about Romero's severance package. Under his contract it could have amounted to $265,000, but Romero signed off on agreement for one year's salary — $165,000 — plus health care coverage valued at about $5,700.
State Rep. Bill Rehm, an Albuquerque Republican, tells KOB-TV the package amounts to a golden parachute that is being financed with taxpayer money.
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