Ceci Velasquez is an American politician and

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant or paralegal specialist, is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for p ...

who served as a Democratic member of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

from 2015 to 2017. She was convicted of

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

in 2016.

Early life and education

Velasquez born and raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

and is a second-generation

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

. Velasquez earned an

Associate of Science Associate may refer to: Academics * Associate degree, a two-year educational degree in the United States, and some areas of Canada * Associate professor, an academic rank at a college or university * Technical associate or Senmonshi, a Japa ...

from

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a Public university, public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union Hi ...

and a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. She worked in

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

for 12 years and founded the Arizona Guidance Organization, a nonprofit that provides support to families in the justice system.

Arizona House of Representatives

Tenure

Velasquez was elected to the

in 2014 alongside

Cesar Chavez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...

. She served on the Federalism and States' Rights and Rules committees.

Legal troubles and indictment

Upon election, it was discovered there was an outstanding warrant for her arrest due to failing to pay court fees from traffic violations in 2010. Velasquez was indicted by an Arizona grand jury on May 23, 2016 with three felony counts: fraudulent schemes and practices; unlawful use of food stamps; and theft. Velasquez pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful use of food stamps, a Class 1 misdemeanor. She paid restitution for the amount and was sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service.

References

External links

Legislative website
(

WayBack Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

)
Ceci Velasquez
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velasquez, Ceci 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature American politicians of Mexican descent Arizona politicians convicted of crimes Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Arizona Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people People from Litchfield Park, Arizona Women state legislators in Arizona Year of birth missing (living people)