David Aviles reinstated by city, criminal charges still pending

City of Maricopa recreation coordinator David Aviles has returned to work after being placed on administrative leave nearly five months ago.
 
Aviles was relieved of his duties by the city in late October after he was indicted on nine criminal counts, including one count of forgery, one count of hindering prosecution in the first degree and one count of tampering with a public record.
 
The charges stemmed from Aviles allegedly modifying city records between Sept. 1, 2010 and Sept. 22, 2010 to the benefit of former city employee Marty McDonald, who was laid off and arrested on charges of stealing by deceit and is involved in a claim against the city.

One of the charges against McDonald is that he billed the city for athletic equipment that was never purchased, and Aviles was indicted for allegedly changing city records to show that the equipment had been received.

McDonald’s lawyer Clair Lane said that what Aviles did was part of his job description and he was just updating an inventory list to correctly reflect the city’s equipment inventory.

“He committed no crime,” Lane said.

Aviles officially returned to the job March 4 after an internal investigation.

Aviles’ lawyer Dennis Gorman filed a motion for dismissal of the charges against his client in late February.

The court is yet to rule on the motion.

Aviles declined to be interviewed and his lawyer was not available for comment.

More information about the outcome of the charges against Aviles will be released as it is made available.