What could have kept Michael Paul Astorga from walking freely out of a meeting with his parole officer, just hours after a warrant was issued for his arrest? Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White announces a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Michael Paul Astorga in the shooting death of Deputy James McGrane Jr. He announced the reward Thursday and also said officers would not rest until Astorga is brought to justice. (Craig Fritz/Tribune)

TERMS TO KNOW Parole: The conditional release of a prison inmate. It's made under the jurisdiction of the Adult Parole Board, a panel of volunteers independent of the court system but linked with the state Department of Corrections. Probation: The suspension of a portion of an inmate's sentence. It's made under the jurisdiction of a judge, in Astorga's case, 2nd District Court Judge Richard Knowles.

Police say if Astorga's probation/parole officer had run Astorga's name through the National Crime Information Center database, she would have known he was wanted in a November 2005 slaying.

Astorga, 29, is now the suspect in a second killing: the shooting early Wednesday of Bernalillo County sheriff's Deputy James F. McGrane Jr.

Police assume that all law enforcement workers check the national crime database regularly, Albuquerque Police Department spokesman John Walsh said.

But probation/parole officers rely on police to call them with alerts about warrants because they don't, as a rule, have the time, equipment or authority to regularly check with the NCIC, state Corrections Department spokeswoman Tia Bland said..

Mark Carey, president of the American Probation and Parole Officer Association, says this misunderstanding isn't just a New Mexico problem.

"There is no standard on checking these records at all," said Mark Carey, president of the national American Probation and Parole Officer Association. "Nationwide that's not the way it works."

He said until departments install technology to automatically alert probation/parole officers to arrests and violations, the system will continue to rely on "good old human contact."

But Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White today called for a change.

"If parole/probation officers don't conduct warrant checks on their clients, they need to start," White said.

HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? Authorities describe Michael Paul Astorga, 29, as a Hispanic male, 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, with visible tattoos. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 843-7867.

"I would hope the policy change was written yesterday," he said. "Unfortunately for us, it's too late."

Gov. Bill Richardson's office said today the problem has never been raised by the Corrections Department. and no changes are planned.

"That needs to come from them," Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said today of the Corrections Department.

A second question hovering over Astorga's freedom is how he was out on parole and probation in the first place.

After failing to check in with his parole officer for 169 days and violating his parole by meeting with his gang member brother, Astorga could have been sent back to prison last June.

But citing support from his family and friends, officials decided Astorga was not a threat and freed the Albuquerque man.

It's a decision that haunts Tim Kline, chairman of the board that paroled Astorga, although he stood by it Thursday.

"That is very hard to explain, but I made that decision based on the info I had at the time. That is my job," he said.

While Astorga sat in jail last June, awaiting a decision on his fate, letters of support flooded in.

Family, church members and friends said the convicted heroin dealer and vandal was making good choices, working full time and tending to his emotional and substance abuse problems.

Astorga's life at that time was governed by conditions of both parole, overseen by the state's Adult Parole Board, and probation, overseen by 2nd District Court Judge Richard Knowles.

Both Knowles and the Parole Board decided to give Astorga a second chance, Kline said.

Astorga was sent back into society - still with restrictions but free just the same.

With the information he had last June, Kline said he'd make the same decision again.

"I agreed to allow him to go out (of prison), and my heart has been heavy," Kline said Thursday.

Republican lawmakers have criticized Richardson's administration for the parole.

"We need to make these people serve their full terms," Rep. Jimmie Hall, an Albuquerque Republican, said in a statement.

His sentiment was echoed by Rep. Larry Larra?aga, also an Albuquerque Republican, who said: "This administration does not look at the safety of the people of New Mexico. The answer is to adequately fund the prison system so that people that are unsafe to the citizens are kept behind bars."

Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for Richardson, called the criticisms "a baseless, cheap attack."

"It is shameful the Republicans are using the murder of this officer in a desperate attempt to score political points," he said.

Kline, board Director Ella Frank and court and police records paint this series of events:

• In February 1998, Astorga was sentenced to 11 years in prison for being a habitual offender, dealing drugs, damaging property and illegally possessing guns.

• With credit for time served during court hearings and according to the state's good-time credit allowance, Astorga was released in April 2004, after serving six years.

He was placed on five years of probation and two years of parole.

He had to abide by one of the board's toughest plans, Frank said.

The plan would send Astorga back to prison for, among other violations, associating with gang members, including his brother, and failing to maintain a stringent reporting schedule with his parole/probation officer.

• In August 2004, Astorga was sent to jail for five days for a minor traffic violation.

Immediately after his release, Astorga stopped reporting to his officer and wasn't seen for 169 days.

• On March 16, 2005, Astorga was arrested and jailed until the Parole Board and Knowles decided his fate.

The significant number of letters supporting Astorga were "highly unusual," said Frank, who described them as "effusive."

After winning approval from the parole board on June 15, Astorga was released.

• On Saturday, Nov. 5, Candido "Candy" Ray Martinez, 27, was shot and killed in a dispute over a 1959 El Camino. Within nine hours, Albuquerque police named Astorga as their prime suspect.

• Early on Sunday, Nov. 6, a warrant was issued for Astorga's arrest.

• On Monday, Nov. 7, Astorga visited his parole officer and then came to work, said Joe Lyon, his employer at an Albuquerque risk management firm.

Corrections spokeswoman Tia Bland said it's little surprise the parole officer didn't know about Astorga's arrest warrant.

Bland said today that parole/probation officers don't have the time, equipment or authority to check national crime computers to see whether their clients are suddenly wanted for murder or another serious crime.

About 100 parole/probation officers work in Albuquerque, she said, and an estimated 4,000 parolees check in with the office every week.

Most officers handle 95-100 cases at a time. But Astorga was a high-risk case, she said, and was one of 20 cases assigned to one probation/parole officer .

On that Monday, Bland said, she and other parole officers were trying to check in with their parolees "and get them to work on time."

Astorga came in for his visit then left without being apprehended. The officer, Bland said, didn't get a call from Albuquerque police detectives didn't come in until Monday evening.

While officers have computers on their desks, only one in the office can connect with the national crime computer where warrants are listed, she said.

Bland also said the officers aren't certified to make those computer checks.

"Officers don't have the time to run (crime computer) checks on each of their clients," she also said.

Sheriff White said it was unfortunate that the parole officer didn't know about Astorga's warrant.

But it wouldn't have taken much time, he said. "It only takes a strike of a computer key to find that out," White said.

Lyon said Astorga worked a few hours that morning and then took his pregnant girlfriend to the doctor for a sonogram.

He also said police never came to his office to ask about Astorga that day.

Lyon learned later Monday that Astorga was the suspect in the Nov. 5 homicide.

By that time, Astorga had disappeared.

"If (police) had come (that Monday), they could have gotten him," Lyon said.

Assistant City Editor Joel Gay contributed to this story.