Hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money has gone to prosecute three people, including actor Alec Baldwin, in connection with the "Rust" movie set shooting. And some of that money has gone to an attorney who lost his law license after being sent to prison.The former attorney has made at least $36,000 working as a paralegal in the "Rust" case.According to court records, he lost his law license, was convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison 20 years ago, and now he has been working on one of the most high-profile cases the state has seen.Recently that paralegal tried to get his law license back in Vermont, and the supreme court there said he lacked honesty and integrity. In all, about $150,000 has been spent from a special appropriation from the New Mexico Legislature to prosecute the "Rust" case, and there are commitments to spend at least $80,000 more.At her request, the Legislature gave First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies more than $315,000 to prosecute the "Rust" case.“This case has been in the DA's office since October of 2022, and the amount of money that's been spent, I think, is it raises a lot of eyebrows,” said former prosecutor John Day.According to invoices obtained by Target 7, more than $25,000 has gone to a public relations firm at a rate of $125 an hour. More than $21,000 has gone to the former state police chief to work as a private investigator and $26,000 to special prosecutor Andrea Raeb who ultimately stepped down after concerns were raised that she being a state legislator violated the New Mexico constitution.“So she's off the case,” Day said. “The money that was spent is basically money that's gone."Day said taxpayers have not gotten a lot for their money, considering the DA dropped charges against Baldwin, and that they had incorrectly charged him and armor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in the first place."You've got this huge amount of money being spent on these supposedly legal professionals, and what is the result?” Day said. "We had a situation where the DA embarrassingly got caught charging a crime that didn't even exist at the time the incident took place."Charges against Baldwin were dismissed last month shortly after special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis were appointed. They announced there was new evidence in the case. However, under New Mexico Law, they can refile charges. Gutierrez-Reed is still facing involuntary manslaughter charges and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for August. Assistant director David Halls pleaded to a petty misdemeanor and was sentenced to probation for his role in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.The paralegal in the DA’s office has been billing $40 an hour. According to court documents, about 20 years ago, the paralegal's law license was suspended in California after he embezzled $500,000 from his clients.However, he continued to work as an attorney and was ultimately prosecuted and sentenced to prison. He was released from prison in 2002, and he resigned from the California Bar."So what happened here is apparently the DA's office in Santa Fe hired to work on this very high profile case, a person who is a convicted felon, someone who stole huge amounts of money from his clients, and who has been described by a state supreme court as not having the moral fitness and integrity to receive a law license,” Day said.Day is referring to these documents obtained by Target 7. The paralegal recently tried to get his law license back in Vermont. And just four months ago, the Vermont Supreme Court said in their ruling the paralegal's testimony did not persuade the court that similar behavior would not occur again."The issue's already been raised by the Vermont Supreme Court,” Day said. “This person may have the capability of continuing to engage in embezzlement and that kind of misconduct.” The court also said the paralegal’s failure to disclose some of his other criminal charges- including forgery of a driver's license — reflected a lack of transparency."The Vermont Supreme Court said this person does not have the integrity and honesty to allow us to let him practice law,” Day said. “So, this raises a lot of questions about why the District Attorney's office would hire someone with that kind of background to work on this high-profile case. Did they do a background check and not care, or did they not do a background check?”Target 7 reached out to Carmack-Altwies. She declined to do an interview but acknowledged she was aware of his background.When asked her about hiring the paralegal, her office responded in an email by calling Target 7’s work “a disgusting hit-piece on a hard-working man who had paid his debt to society. “The email goes on to say that the paralegal has never been in charge of handling money with regard to the Rust case, and they believe in giving people second chances to rebuild their lives.An additional $80,000 has been set aside to pay Morrisey and Lewis. They have yet to submit invoices.