On February 12, DWI defense attorney Thomas Clear III, 67, and former APD Officer Neill Elsman, were arraigned in U.S Magistrate Court and plead guilty as charged to bribery of Albuquerque Police Department officers, racketeering conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and interference with commerce by extortion. They admitted to their involvement in the bribery and conspiracy “DWI Enterprise” scheme to dismiss DWI cases.
It was on Friday January 19, 2024 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed search warrants and raided the homes of 3 Albuquerque Police officers and the home and law offices of criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear, III. Over the last year, the case has evolved into the largest government corruption case in APD’s history involving bribery spanning 30 years. It involves at a minimum 13 APD officers to dismiss DWI cases. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman ordered the dismissal of over 200 DWI cases because of the scandal due to police officer credibility being called into question in cases they made DWI arrests. Officers with the Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Office and the New Mexico State Police have also been implicated.
NINE CHARGES AGAINST CLEAR
Clear plead guilty to nine federal charges including racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, bribery, and extortion. Clear faces up to 130 years in prison and $2 million in fines. The criminal charges and the guilty plea came one day after Clear was suspended from practicing law by the New Mexico Supreme Court over allegations that he paid officers bribes to get his clients’ DWI cases dropped.
In his Plea Agreement, Clear admits that for nearly 30 years he led a criminal racketeering enterprise that paid off generations of law enforcement officers to get his clients’ DWI cases thrown out. Clear admits to running the “DWI Enterprise” since at least 1995. The DWI Enterprise scheme was run out of Clear’s law office.
Based on Clear’s plea agreement, the DWI Enterprise scheme spanned the administrations of five Albuquerque police chiefs, including current APD Chief Harold Medina.
Clear admits that from around 1995 he used his law firm “and my specialized skills as an attorney to lead a DWI bribery scheme involving numerous law enforcement officers and deputies from APD, New Mexico State Police and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.”
According to Clear’s plea agreement, prior to 2022, Clear and his para legal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez would arrange for officers to intentionally fail to appear at required pretrial interviews involving DWI offenders the officers arrested. Clear would file motions to dismiss the proceedings, claiming the officers were necessary witnesses who didn’t show up as required. The courts would dismiss the cases as a sanction against the prosecution.
The operation dubbed the “DWI Enterprise” by federal prosecutors evolved in recent years when Clear stated that he, Mendez and the officers “worked out another method to guarantee dismissal of the state criminal DWI-related offenses.” Officers began to miss actual court hearings, or would intentionally and illegally withhold evidence, or fail to complete paperwork on those suspects they arrested who later hired Clear.
Clear in his plea agreement states that he distanced himself from direct involvement in meetings Mendez had with DWI offenders to set the cash payments required for a “guaranteed dismissal” or when Mendez would meet or have conversations with involved officers to discuss “specific bribe amounts or payments.”
Clear admits in his plea agreement that he worked with “numerous” officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, and the New Mexico State Police, and would have them funnel people they arrested for drunk driving to his law firm. Defendants charged with DWI would pay Clear or his paralegal fees and Clear would “guarantee that the DWI criminal case and MVD process would be dismissed.” Clear would guarantee to his clients that they would have no criminal record and that their driver’s license would not be revoked. Officers would also “intentionally fail to appear” at required hearings and for interviews.
Clear said he successfully recruited his paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez into the enterprise in 2008, a year after he hired him. Clear says he “purposefully” had Mendez handle meetings with the DWI offenders on his own. It was in those meetings where Clear said Mendez requested the bribe payment. Clear admitted that he did this strategically to limit his involvement.
It is not apparent from the court pleading filed how much Clear and Mendez netted from the DWI Enterprise. However, federal prosecutors contend that in April 2022, Clear and Mendez told one prospective client they would charge “$10,000 in exchange for having DWI charges dismissed and to avoid additional criminal charges potentially being filed.” The defendant, identified in court records only as “J.B.”, did not pay the $10,000 and went to another attorney. J.B. had been arrested by Montaño, who previously had shared information about J.B.’s arrest with Mendez, who contacted the defendant after he was released from custody.
Under Clear’s plea, four of the counts are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while five other counts are each punishable by 10 years. If those were run consecutively, the total exposure to Clear is 130 years. Sentencing for Clear has not been scheduled.
CLEAR’S OTHER LEGAL PROBLEMS
Clear, a Republican appointed to serve two terms on the state Public Defender Commission, has been practicing since at least 1982 when he joined his father, Thomas Clear Jr.’s law firm. He soon resigned from the Public Defender Commission in February, 2024 when the scandal was first reported.
On February 7, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a “Complaint for Forfeiture” for the home containing attorney Clear’s law offices located on Aztec Road in the middle of a Northeast Heights neighborhood. In the forfeiture complaint, for the first time Thomas Clear III is named as a main player in the “DWI Enterprise” criminal organization. The US Attorney is seeking to seize Clear’s property and get title to the property where they believe the crimes took place.
On Tuesday, February 11, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a Court Order suspending the law license of Thomas Clear, III over allegations that he bribed APD police officers with cash, gifts and free legal advice to have his clients’ DWI cases dismissed. The order states:
“[Attorney Thomas Clear III] is hereby indefinitely suspended from the practice of law, effective immediately.”
The Supreme Court’s decision bans Clear from practicing law in New Mexico and in all courts in the state including Federal Courts.
FIVE CHARGES AGAINST FORMER APD OFFICER NEILL ELSMAN
Former APD officer Neill Elsman plead guilty to 5 counts in federal court. Elsman pleaded to conspiracy, extortion, and bribery. Elsman, who started working for APD in 2014 and joined the DWI Unit in 2019 resigned last August ahead of an Internal Affairs Interview. Elsman resigned from the Albuquerque Police Department after returning from military leave. He is one of 12 officers placed on leave after the allegations came to light. In his plea agreement, Elsman admits to working with Clear since 2021 to get drunk driving cases dismissed in exchange for cash and other gifts. He is the third APD officer involved in the DWI dismissal scandal to plea guilty.
Sentencing for Elsman has not been scheduled.
STATEMENTS ISSUED
U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Alexander Uballez said this in a statement issued the Albuquerque Journal:
“Today, Thomas J. Clear III admitted to leading a decades-old criminal enterprise wherein he abandoned his own ethical duties as a lawyer, corrupted generations of law enforcement officers, and perverted the criminal justice system in order to feed his own greed. With this conviction, we end this ignominious scheme that has shaken the faith of all New Mexicans. But we are not done digging. Now is the time to come clean. If you were ever involved in this deceit, now is the time to come to the table.”
APD Chief Harold Medina for his part said this in a statement:
“I predicted this conspiracy went on for decades, and sure enough, Tom Clear admitted his bribery scheme dates back to 1995. … We worked with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to finally expose Tom Clear’s criminal scheme… As I have said, we will leave no stone unturned, even if it means going back 30 years to scrutinize the actions of officers. We are learning more details every day and we anticipate exposing more wrongdoing as our investigation continues.”
Links to relied upon or quoted news sources are here:
https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-attorney-thomas-clear-federal-charges/63776631
ANATOMY OF “DWI ENTERPRISE” REVEALED IN CRIMINAL INFORMATION
The criminal Information filed on January 24 in Federal Court against Ricardo “Rick” Mendez provides a summary of how the “DWI Enterprise” worked and evolved dating to back to at least 2008. The charging document described its operation like that of a gang involving law enforcement using coded language, teaching the scheme to new recruits and asking supervisors to make sure it stayed under wraps. At least two former-DWI officers implicated were placed on leave in the case had worked at Internal Affairs.
Prosecutors allege as fact in the federal Criminal Information charging document that “as part of the racketeering conspiracy, each member and associate of the DWI Enterprise served a different role” to subvert the criminal justice system.
As to attorneys, federal prosecutors allege that a criminal defense attorney, presumably Thomas Clear, III, who “specialized in DWI defense”, and his private investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez “handled the day-to-day coordination of the scheme.” The federal Criminal Information pleading filed alleges law enforcement participants changed over time as they came and went from the APD DWI Unit.
In his Plea Agreement, Mendez admits the bribery scheme began in 2008, a year after he was hired by Clear. Mendez admits that police officers who arrested drunk drivers would take their driver’s licenses rather than arrest them for DWI. Those licenses were handed off to Mendez who would contact the driver and tell them they could get off the hook if they paid him several thousand dollars in cash.
Part of the money would go to the arresting officer. In some cases when charges were filed, Mendez said he worked with officers to make sure he and Attorney Clear scheduled court hearings at times that the officers were busy. Besides cash police officers and their family members received free legal advice and representation, gift cards, and hotel rooms.
When law enforcement involved in the scheme arrested someone or pulled them over for DWI, they would pass the person’s driver’s license and telephone number to him. Mendez would contact the charged Defendant and tell them, if they hired Clear, “they would not have to worry about the DWI arrest.” If Clear was hired, Mendez said, the pair “strongly encouraged” the person to pay their retainer in cash and then officers would intentionally fail to appear at required hearings. Prosecutors allege Clear would move to dismiss the DWI case “even though (he) was aware” the officer had been paid to not show up.
Mendez admitted the officers were often paid in cash, up to $5,000 per case, but also received other benefits. Those benefits included free legal services, gift cards, hotel rooms and other gifts. Mendez typically handled paying off law enforcement but, on occasion, Clear paid them directly. If the person didn’t retain Clear as an attorney, Mendez said, the officer would go about the case as normal, “usually securing a DWI conviction against the offender.” There were times police officers would let the DWI offender go without filing charges so Mendez could contact them and secure money to ensure the case would never be filed.
Mendez admitted the scheme “evolved over the years” within the APD DWI Unit, which had the most officers involved. They made sure to recruit and train new officers in the scheme and to personally introduce them to Mendez, giving him their phone numbers. Federal prosecutors allege that APD officers would be paid a “referral fee” by Mendez or Clear for a new recruit and those who were veterans in the scheme would warn Mendez which officers he should avoid, as they might report the activity to Internal Affairs. Prosecutors allege:
“This generational participation, particularly within APD, allowed the DWI Enterprise to take root amongst almost the entire APD DWI Unit over a lengthy period of time.”
Federal prosecutors allege Mendez and Clear asked senior members of the scheme to “use their positions and influence within APD” to try to ensure that involved officers “were not investigated or disciplined in connection with their illegal activity.”
The bribery and conspiracy scheme adapted to changes in the judicial system, such as when DWI case pretrial interviews were done away with in 2022. According to the plea agreement, police officers would skip the pretrial interviews to get the DWI cases dismissed. After pretrial interviews were discontinued, assigned APD police officers started missing motion hearings or trial settings that resulted in the courts dismissing the cases. Federal prosecutors assert law enforcement involved would use coded language in emails and phone communications with each other as they coordinated their scheme.
OTHERS CHARGED AND WHO HAVE PLEAD GUILTY
On Friday, February 8, former APD Officers Honorio Alba Jr. and Joshua Montaño were arraigned in U.S. District Court on federal charges and pleaded guilty to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy-related charges. Both face potentially 110 years in prison. The APD officers took bribes to help local criminal DWI defense attorney Thomas Clear, III to dismiss DWI cases.
On January 24, Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, who worked for DWI criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear, III plead guilty to 1 count of racketeering, 5 counts of bribery, 1 count of extortion, aiding and abetting and 1 count of conspiracy.
In their separate plea agreements, Mendez, Alba and Montaño admit Clear was the central figure in the scheme, in which APD officers were paid thousands in bribes or gifts, recruited and corrupted other officers and asked superiors to protect the scheme. Officers received bribes in exchange for referring DWI suspects to Clear and then missed court hearing, or failed to appear for interviews allowing Clear to seek dismissals of the cases.
Links to relied upon or quoted news sources are here:
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/2-former-apd-officers-reach-plea-deal-in-federal-dwi-investigation/
https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-police-officers-guilty-federal-dwi/63707482
OFFICERS IDENTIFIED
The bribery and conspiracy investigation has evolved during the last year into the largest corruption case in APD’s history. A total of 13 APD Police officers have been implicated in the scandal and 7 have resigned during the Internal Affairs investigation, 3 are on paid leave and one has been terminated. One by one, the accused Albuquerque police officers have been turning in their badges and resigning rather than talking to Internal Affairs investigators about an alleged public corruption scheme involving DWI cases. The names and dates of the 12 officers who have resigned, placed on leave or who have been terminated are:
- On February 7, 2024 Justin Hunt,who started at APD in 2000,
- On February 29, 2024, Honorio Alba, who started at APD in 2014,
- On March 13, 2024, Harvey Johnson, who started at APD in 2014,
- On March 15, 2024, Nelson Ortiz, who started at APD in 2016,
- On March 20, 2024 Joshua Montaño, who started at APD January 2005,
- On May 2, 2024 Daren DeAguero, who started with APD in 2009,
- On May 9, 2024, Matthew Trahan was placed on paid leaveas the investigation plays out. Trahan has been with APD since 2006, was with the DWI unit from 2014-16 and recently worked as a detective.
- On July 30, 2024 APD Officer Neill Elsman, who had worked in the DWI unit within the past several years, resigned before returning to work from military leave.
- On August 1, APD announced that it fired APD Commander of Internal Affairs for Professional Standards Mark Landavazo. He started with APD in 2007 and was with the DWI unit from 2008 through 2013.
- October 16, Deputy Commander Gustavo Gomez with APD’s Internal Affairs Force Division was placed on paid administrative leave. Gomez was with the DWI unit from 2010 to 2013
- On January 24, 2025 APD announced they placed officers Matthew Chavez and Lieutenant Kyle Curtis on paid leave.
- On February 28, Lieutenant Kyle Curtis announced his retirementamid being targeted in the Internal investigation involving DWI arrests.
- In 2022, APD Police Officer Timothy McCarson retired from the department.
On February 24, Bernalillo County Sherriff John Allen announced that BCSO Deputy Jeff Hammerel was immediately placed on administrative leave. The New Mexico State Police has not announced if any State Police Officer has been placed on leave in that no State Police Officer has yet to be identified as being involved in the bribery and conspiracy scandal.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
With the entry of plea agreements, the United States Attorney has secured criminal convictions without the expense of a trial against the 5 defendants who plead guilty. Four are facing up to 110 years in prison and one is facing 70 years in prison. They will no doubt cooperate in order to secure reduced sentences. Defense attorney Thomas Clear and Ricardo “Rick” Mendez are the two central figures in the case. Together, they will be able to identify and implicate all APD officers they bribed over the years and how far up APD’s chain of command the scheme went.
TO WHAT EXTENT WAS APD INTERNAL AFFAIRS COMPROMISED?
The APD’s Internal Affairs (IA) unit investigates complaints against APD employees and officers. The IA unit’s purpose is to ensure professionalism and accountability within the department. The IA unit conducts administrative investigations into policy violations, misconduct, and use of force. The IA unit recommends discipline for policy, training, and equipment deficiencies.
The 3 former APD Officers who have plead guilty will be able to name and identify just how far up APD’s chain of command the DWI Enterprise goes, including APD’s Internal Affairs Unit. At least two former-DWI officers who were assigned and worked in APD Internal Affairs were placed on leave in the case after being implicated. Their assignment to Internal Affairs raises the question to what extent was the work of Internal Affairs compromised and for how long?
On August 1, 2024, APD announced that it had fired an APD Commander of Internal Affairs for Professional Standards Mark Landavazo. He has been on administrative leave and under investigation since February 13, 2024. Landavazo started with APD in 2007 and was with the DWI unit from 2008 through 2013. The on line news outlet City Desk ABQ reported in the summer of 2024 that it had obtained emails that showed the FBI had forwarded a tip in June of 2022 to Landavazo about an officer working with attorney Thomas Clear III and his paralegal to guarantee a DWI charge would go away if the defendant paid $10,000. According to those emails, Landavazo suggested the FBI special agent contact the Civilian Police Oversight Agency and that APD Internal Affairs did not handle such complaints.
On October 16, 2024, APD Deputy Commander Gustavo Gomez, with APD’s Internal Affairs Force Division was placed on paid administrative leave in relation to the DWI dismissal and bribery scandal. Gomez was named Deputy Commander of the Internal Affairs Force Division in January, 2024. He had been with APD since 2008. Gomez was a DWI officer, from 2010 to 2013.
Both Landavazo and Gomez as employees of Internal Affairs had access to all personnel files of police officers being investigated for nefarious conduct, including perhaps cases where APD officers were accepting bribes for the dismissal of DWI cases. They could have conceivably deflected investigations of officers involved with DWI Enterprise. Both were placed in Internal Affairs by Chief Harold Medina.
BASTION OF DIRTY AND CORRUPT COPS
There is absolutely no doubt that APD’s reputation has been trashed to a major extent because of this scandal. APD is viewed by many as again having just another bastion of “dirty and corrupt cops” who have brought dishonor to their department and their badge and to the department’s professed values of “Pride, Integrity, Fairness and Respect”. There is no doubt that this whole DWI dismissal bribery scandal has shaken the public’s faith in our criminal justice system and in APD to its core.
The only way that any semblance of faith can be restored and for people to begin trusting APD and law enforcement again is if all the police officers involved in this scandal are held accountable and the lawyers involved are held accountable. That will only happen with aggressive prosecutions, convictions, and lengthy prison sentences for the law enforcement and attorneys involved and charged.
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