APD Chief Harold Medina Makes Yet Another Play To Hold On As Chief If Mayor Keller Elected To Third Term; Medina Is Albatross Around Keller’s Neck As He Seeks A Third Term; Medina Should Resign Now

Posted on March 28, 2025 by

On March 27, APD Chief Harold Medina was interviewed by KOB Reporter Giuli Frendak about what he considered were the wins and losses of the 2025 legislative session. Towards the end of the interview, Medina revealed for the third time that he is uncertain about retiring at the end of 2025 as he has said at the height of controversy.

Following is the full KOB 4 report:

“KOB 4 learned a little more about Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina’s retirement plans. In the past, he told us he was looking to step down in December. But now, he’s saying he is not so sure.

KOB Reporter Giuli Frendak: “Based on the timeline that you’ve told me personally before, this was your last session [of the New Mexico Legislatire] as chief?”

APD Chief Harold Medina: “You never know. You just don’t know what the future is going to bring. I mean, there’s so many unknowns, you know, we have a mayor’s race in the fall. I’m very happy with the structure I have now. I don’t know if I’d want to work for another mayor. Mayor Keller has let me run the police department, and regardless of what anybody says out there, crime is down, recruiting is up.”

Medina started his police career in 1995, and became APD chief in 2021.

Links to relied upon and quoted new sources

https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/apd-chief-harold-medina-uncertain-about-retiring-in-dec

https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/apd-chief-weighs-in-on-changes-after-legislative-session/

NOT THE FIRST TIME MEDIANA BACK TRACKS ON RETIREMENT

In November, 2024, Mayor Tim Keller told the Albuquerque Journal that APD Chief Harold Medina would likely retire in December 2025, though Medina wasn’t present for that interview.

On December 5, 2024, APD Chief Harold Medina and Mayor Tim Keller sat down with the Albuquerque Journal editorial board in a hastily scheduled joint interview. Chief Medina disclosed he was considering not retiring as APD Chief at the end of December 2025 when Mayor Tim Keller’s second term ends.

Medina told the Journal this:

“There are a lot of things I want to finish accomplishing. … I want [to make] this clear — I still have a passion for this job. … I still love this job every day. … I put 30 years into this department, and if there is a strong transition for me to [retire], then yes, [I will] … I need to see where the department is. There’s so many unknowns.”

Mayor Keller said that upon Medina’s eventual departure the city has a “great pool” of potential APD Chief successors to pull from whenever needed, no matter who the mayor is. Keller pointed out that he has been through multiple chief searches and “it’s not good governance to not think about transition.” Keller put it this way:

“I’m very prepared to walk through that and lead the department through an interim transition.”

Keller said Medina has built “a great bench” to replace him, including APD Deputy Chief Cecily Barker for whom Medina voiced support for becoming the next APD chief. APD has never had a female police chief, and confidential sources are saying Keller is champing at the bit to appoint the first female APD Chief of Police.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_2ef10a30-b36f-11ef-8eee-2f6e01287078.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

RECALLING HOW AND WHEN MEDINA BECAME CHIEF

Harold Medina is the second Chief of Police appointed by Mayor Keller. Former APD Chief Michael Geier was appointed Chief of Police by Mayor Keller in 2017 within one month after Keller was elected Mayor. It was Chief Geier who recruited Medina to return to APD as a Deputy Chief of Field Services. Former APD Chief Geier was forced to retire on September 10, 2020, some would say terminated, by Mayor Tim Keller and replaced him with APD Chief Harold Medina. A few days after Geier “retired” it was revealed that Geier was indeed forced out by Mayor Tim Keller. Chief Geier was summoned to a city park by Mayor Tim Keller, who was in disguise, during the Labor Day Holiday weekend where Geier was told that his services were no longer needed. It was also revealed then First Deputy Chief Harold Medina helped orchestra Geier’s removal. He did so with the help of then CAO Sarita Nair. Medina became insubordinate to Geier and learning Geier was going to take disciplinary action against him and demote and transfer him, Medina struck back and orchestrated Geier’s removal.

A YEAR OF APD SCANDAL AND MEDINA PERSONAL CONTROVERSY

APD Chief Medina’s announcement that he wants to stay on after December 31 comes after a year of an APD corruption scandal and Chief Medina violating standard operating procedures and being given preferential treatment by APD and Mayor Keller. APD is under an ongoing investigation by the FBI for alleged corruption related to APD officers’ dismissing DWIs for briberies. In February, Medina crashed a department truck into a vintage Mustang while fleeing gunfire near the International District and placing a man in critical condition. Medina was given letters of reprimanded by the Internal Affairs Division, which he assigns personnel, for his handling of the crash, notably for not turning on his lapel camera and violating APD policies and procedures.

CITY COUNCIL EFFORTS TO REMOVE MEDINA

In 2024, there were 3 attempts by the Albuquerque City Council calling for a “vote of no confidence” in Chief Medina and calling for his termination. The most serious attempt was on February 14 when Westside City Councilor Louie Sanchez announced the introduction of a Resolution entitled “REMOVING POLICE CHIEF HAROLD MEDINA FOR FAILURE TO LEAD THE ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT”. The Resolution identifies numerous and specific instances of mismanagement of APD by Chief Harold Medina.

It was in April, 2023 that APD Chief Harold Medina made it known to APD personnel that he intended to retire in December 2025. He did so at a time when the Albuquerque City Council was about to vote on City Council Resolution to remove and terminate him for cause. Prior to the City Council meeting APD Chief Medina ordered all APD sworn and civilian staff to attend personnel meetings where he discussed the “No Confidence Resolution”, the APD bribery and conspiracy scandal to dismiss DWI cases and his February 17 car crash. All the meetings were held at the APD academy. According to sources, 4 meetings were ordered.

KOAT TV Target 7 obtained audio recordings of one of the meetings where Chief Harold Medina talked about the investigations into himself and the department. During the meeting Chief Medina made highly critical remarks of the city council’s attempts to remove him as Chief. He tells the assembled officers and civilian employees and makes it very clear he has no intent of going anywhere and will remain Chief.

Chief Medina severely criticized the city council, which was scheduled to take a vote of no confidence later that week, saying he would be fine because he had plans to retire soon. Medina told those assembled:

“Am I pissed? Yes, I am pissed. But you know what? I’m fine. I’ll go through that tomorrow. I have my plan. They have their plan. We will play this game until December 2025, when I decide to retire.”

On April 3, the resolution was withdrawn, and no vote was ever taken by the city council.

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-police-chief-recorded-lets-appease-everyone-crash-investigation/60473617

APD BRIBERY AND CONSPIRACY SCANDAL TO DISMISS DWI CASES

It was on Friday, January 19 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed search warrants and raided the homes of 3 Albuquerque Police officers and the home and law office of prominent DWI criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear, III. All 6 are allegedly involved in a bribery and conspiracy scheme spanning a decade to dismiss DWI cases. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman ordered the dismissal of 260 DWI cases over the last year because of the scandal and due to APD officers credibility being called into question.

The DWI bribery scandal to dismiss DWI cases is the largest corruption case in APD’s history. The corruption score card thus far is as follows:

Eighteen law enforcement officers consisting of fourteen APD Officers, three BCSO officers, including the undersheriff, and one NMSP Sergeant, have been implicated, resigned or retired.
Four APD officers and one BCSO Deputy have plead guilty as charged with no sentencing agreement for their involvement in the DWI Enterprise and accepting bribes to dismiss DWI cases. Depending on the charges plead to, they face 20 years or between 70 to 130 years in prison.
Thomas Clear, III and his paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez plead guilty to all federal charges with no agreement as to sentencing with both facing up to 130 years in prison. Clear has been disbarred from the practice of law and his law offices forfeited.

Mayor Keller and Chief Medina made more than a few stunning admissions throughout this sordid APD corruption scandal. They have admitted that the APD bribery and conspiracy scheme to dismiss DWI cases went on the entire 7 years they have been in charge of APD, but they never detected what was going on. Both admitted that only after they found out the FBI was investigating APD the decision was made to initiate a city APD criminal and internal affairs investigation as they proclaimed cooperation with the FBI. Medina admitted that he knew about the corruption as far back as December 2022 when APD was first given a complaint relating to the department’s DWI unit in December 2022, yet Medina waited and essentially did nothing for a full year.

Keller’s admissions come from a person who was first elected as the “white knight” state auditor who stopped “waste, fraud and abuse” and held people accountable for government corruption. Medina’s admissions come from a chief who claims he has never looked the other way at police corruption.

Keller and Medina both looked the other way on documented APD corruption involving overtime pay abuses by APD police officers. There have been seven audits in 8 years documenting the corruption, waste, fraud and abuse in police overtime. One of those audits was done by none other than then New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller.

MEDINA’S CAR CRASH

On February 17 APD Chief Harold Medina and his wife were in a city unmarked APD truck on their way to a press conference with Mayor Tim Keller. Medina decided to stop and call APD to clear a homeless encampment. Medina witnessed two people fighting, a gun was pulled and pointed at Medina’s APD issued vehicle and a shot was fired.

In response Medina fled from the scene and drove through a red light and he T-boned a gold 1966 Ford Mustang driven by Todd Perchert who sustained a broken collarbone, shoulder blade, eight broken ribs, and a collapsed lung and was taken to the hospital in critical condition where he underwent 7 hours of surgery for his injuries. Chief Medina admitted he ran a red light. Medina admitted that he intentionally did not have his lapel camera on and for that reason referred himself to the Superintendent of Police reform for and Internal Affairs Investigation. Medina and his wife were unharmed.

On February 17 during a news conference after the crash, Mayor Tim Keller reacted by heaping highly questionable claims and praises on Chief Medina and he said in part:

“This is actually [Chief Medina] … disrupting an altercation, a shooting, trying to do what’s right. [His actions were] above and beyond what you expect from a chief, and I’m grateful for Harold Medina. … [Chief Medina is] arguably the most important person right now in these times in our city.”

Keller made no mention of the injured victim of the car crash.

A full week after the crash, Mayor Keller said in an interview that the driver of the Mustang “happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time … and it was also a beautiful gold Mustang.” Keller made no mention of the serious injuries inflicted on Todd Perchert.

On Tuesday, February 20, Chief Medina did a “special edition” of his Chief’s Corner to discuss the February 17 car crash with APD personnel. Medina said this in part:

“I was the victim of this traffic accident, and it’s a direct impact of what gun violence is doing to our community. And we need to continue to work at it. I did call out I did submit to a drug test, as any officer would.”

Medina said on the video he thought the oncoming gold Mustang would pass through intersection before he got there. Medina said in his video statement “I looked to my left, and the intersection was cleared. … And I thought that the car was going to pass before I got there, and it did not, and unfortunately, I struck a vehicle.”

Medina admitted he was the one responsible for the crash. He admitted he ran a red light and that he did not have the right of way, yet he said he “was the victim of this traffic accident.” Medina also admitted as before he did not have his body camera on at the time of the crash.

Chief Medina admitted that his wife has not been certified for police ride along with him. Medina asserted that the police ride along policy has been relaxed by Mayor Keller where ride along permission forms to allow relatives to ride along with patrol officers and for personal use are no longer required, yet the original written policy has never been changed.

On February 21, APD released a surveillance video. It shows Chief Harold Medina running a red light and crashing into the Ford Mustang seriously injuring the driver of the Mustang. The surveillance video reveals major falsehoods in Chief Medina’s version of events that he gave in his “Chief’s Corner” video statement. The intersection was not clear as Medina claimed.

The surveillance video shows Medina cutting in front of another car before accelerating at a fast rate of speed through the intersection. The video shows oncoming traffic with Medina first slowly inching between two vehicles traveling West on the North side lanes of Central and Medina then accelerating to cross to the South traveling lanes of Central at a high rate of speed and crashing into the Mustang that was traveling East on the South lanes of Central.

APD Chief Harold Medina could have totally avoided the entire crash by simply turning right to go West on Central as opposed to flooring his vehicle to go forward going South and attempting to turn left to go East. This would have had the immediate effect of driving the vehicle out of the line of fire with a motel building providing obstruction.

On July 18, the city announced the results of internal affairs investigation and disciplinary review of APD Chief Harold Medina for the February 17 car crash. Chief Medina was issued two “letters of reprimand” by Superintendent of Police Reform Eric Garcia. Chief Harold Medina was found to have violated APD policy by failing to safely operate his vehicle while on duty and not turning on his lapel camera as required by state law. The letters of reprimand were placed in Medina’s personnel file and no other disciplinary action was taken. Medina was disciplined one other time in 2006 and given a written reprimand. The 2006 reprimand was also issued by then Lieutenant Eric Garcia who was Medina’s supervisor at the time.

Chief Medina should have been investigated by another law enforcement agency, such as the Bernalillo County Sheriff or State Police, and he could have been charged with reckless driving. Medina could have been terminated “for cause” for the violations of APD’s Standard Operating procedures, something Medina himself has done with officers under his command who have failed to follow APD policy and procedures. Instead, Medina was given slap on the wrist and preferential treatment by his own department. Mayor Keller refused to hold Chief Medina accountable for his conduct as he heaped questionable praises on the Chief.

CIVIL LAWSUIT FOR PERSONAL INJURY FILED AGAINST MEDINA AND CITY

On August 26, Todd Perchert, the victim of the February 17 car crash caused APD Police Chief Harold Medina, filed in the 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque a 20 page personal injury lawsuit naming as Defendants the City of Albuquerque and APD Chief Harold Medina. The lawsuit alleges negligence and that “Defendant Harold Medina battered and/or assaulted Todd Perchert by driving at a high rate of speed and violently colliding with Plaintiff’s vehicle.” The civil complaint outlines personal injury damages, alleges violations of the New Mexico Tort Claims Act, and Violations of the New Mexico Civil Rights Act and alleges “Loss of Consortium.” Perchert’s wife, Danielle, is also suing.

Plaintiff Todd Perchert is seeking damages for the following personal injuries sustained in the car crash:

Broken collarbone and shoulder blade
8 broken ribs (Reconstructed with titanium plates after surgery)
Collapsed lung
Lacerations to left ear and head
Multiple gashes to face
Seven-hour surgery
Hospitalized with an epidural painkiller and chest tube for nearly a week
On going pain and suffering affecting quality of life

With all of the public admissions of liability and admissions against interest made by Chief Medina, it is likely that the case will result in an astonishing large judgement or settlement paid to Todd Perchert and his wife by the City because of Chief Medina’s actions.

KELLER ANNOUNCES RUNNING FOR THIRD TERM

On Thursday March 12, Mayor Tim Keller officially announced that he is running for a third 4 year consecutive term. He did so by issuing a press release and a video. You can view the one minute video here.

On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, KOAT’s Faith Egbuonu spoke with Mayor Keller in a remarkable extended one-on-one “sit down interview” on why he is running for a third term. One question asked of Keller was if he intended to replace APD Chief Harold Medina if he is elected to a third term. Following is the question and answer:

REPORTER EGBUONU: Is there still possibility of a new police chief still? You’ve answered this in so many ways, but I also feel like the idea is still being toyed with. Is it official that if you are re-elected, you are getting a new police chief?

MAYOR KELLER:

“I know that with another term, you always get a wonderful gift, and the gift is you have your team that got you there and that you’ve had before, and then you have time to actually bring in fresh folks and also to build for the longer term, and we’re positioned for that right now at the police department.

There’s a wonderful bench strength there, and we know that we’re going to need new leadership, and that’s something that I’ve been through before, and I think that’s something that we can make smooth, and also we’re not starting from ground zero. We know folks who know the job and know what to do and they’ll be good candidates and so it’s something that I expect to actually be really beneficial for everyone.

If you look at the deputy chiefs, that’s an obvious place to look, and we have some excellent deputy chiefs, and so that’s the first place I’d look at. Certainly, you want to look outside the department. I think you owe it to the community to do that. But particularly because of the positive changes because APD has been rebuilt and reinvigorated by this leadership team, you’ve got to look to that team in the first place, and so that’s the first place I’d look at.”

Click here to review the entire interview:

https://www.koat.com/article/mayor-tim-keller-albuquerque-reelection/64224388

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It should come as absolutely no surprise that Chief Harold Medina is again making it know he wants to continue being Chief if Mayor Keller is elected to another 4 year term. It is more likely than not that Medina saying he was going to retire in December 2025 was nothing more than a politcal ploy or politcal diversion tactic to take the pressure off to having him removed. He made the announcement of retirement plans at the height of controversy and efforts by the city council to remove him. Now that things have died down tremendously, Medina is banking on people forgetting what happened and forgetting all of his controversies and now he feels he might as well go forward and not retire.

Mayor Tim Keller in his March 18 extended interview with KOAT TV failed to state in no uncertain terms if he is elected to a third term that he will ask APD Chief Harold Medina to step aside and replace him with a new chief. The truth is Keller and Medina are tied to the hip, Medina wants to stay and Medina will likely continue to be Chief if Keller is elected to a third term. Mayor Keller’s unwavering, totally blind loyalty to Chief Harold Medina is unquestioned and has been the subject of great speculation as to why he keeps Medina despite all the controversy that swirls around Chief Medina.

Keller refused to hold Chief Medina accountable for a vehicle crash where Medina negligently plowed into another driver putting the driver in the hospital in critical condition. Medina admitted to violating state law when he failed to have his body camera on during an incident that preceded the crash. After the crash, Keller called Medina “arguably the most important person right now in these times in our city.” Medina’s appointed crash review board declared the crash as “non avoidable” even after Medina admitted to causing the crash.

All candidates running against Keller would be major fools not to make Medina an issue in the 2025 Mayors race. Despite what Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Medina may say and think, Chief Medina is a major liability to Keller and will be an albatross round Keller’s neck as he seeks a third term.

Medina does not have the confidence of the general public, let alone the rank and file of APD. Confidential sources within APD are saying morale is so bad within APD because of Medina and his management style and team that there will be upwards of 100 retirements of sworn police in 2025. The number of current APD sworn personnel is roughly 850 sworn police and so many retirements will be a crisis.

In his KOAT TV extended interview Mayor Keller said this:

When I came in, what we saw was a department that was literally falling off a cliff. It was in terrible shape. We had officers leaving in droves.

APD did fall off the cliff under Keller’s and Medina’s leadership. Mayor Keller and Chief Harold Medina have seriously mismanaged the ongoing train wreck known as the Albuquerque Police Department with the department still dangerously understaffed at about 750 to 800 cops despite seven years of increased budgets, salary increases and lucrative bonus pay. Keller has literally thrown money at the problem, yet the department continues to languish. This coming from the Mayor who promised 1,200 cops during his first term. During a recent APD Academy graduation, Keller promised 1,000 cops by the end of the year which is not at all likely given expected retirements.

Seven years ago when Keller first ran and became Mayor, he proclaimed violent crime was out of control, that he could get it down and that he would increase APD sworn from the 850 to 1,200. Violent crime continues to spike and is out of control seven years later with APD currently at 750 sworn officers. The city’s ongoing homicide and violent crime rates continue to be at historical highs and people simply do not feel safe in their homes as the fentanyl crisis surges. APD ranks number one in police killings of citizens in the top 50 largest cities in the country.

Then there is the largest bribery and corruption case in APD’s history with 14 APD Officers implicated and 3 who have been federally charged and who have plead guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy charges involving the dismissal of hundreds of DWI cases for bribes. The former APD officers face up to 130 years in prison. Both Keller and Chief Medina have failed to take any responsibility for what happened under their watch as they deflect and blame others. They both have blamed the Court’s, the DAs Office and the Public Defenders for the DWI dismissals.

CITIZEN SATISFACTION SURVEY REFLECTS VOTER DISATISFACTION WITH APD

Simply put, the general public has lost all faith in APD and Mayor Keller and Chief Medina bear much of the responsibility for that lost faith.

On April 16, 2024 the results of the annual City of Albuquerque Citizen Satisfaction Survey were released, and they are a poor reflection of Mayor Keller’s and Chief Medina’s leadership. The following are highlights of the survey:

A majority of city residents were found to be concerned about the direction of Albuquerque. When asked how they feel about the direction Albuquerque is going in 2024, 31% of surveyed say they are hopeful about the direction of Albuquerque, while 63% report feeling concerned.

The Survey found that city residents are very critical of the job the Albuquerque Police Department is doing:

“The majority of city residents DISAGREE that APD is doing a good job addressing violent crime with 39% agreeing it is doing good job and 56% disagreeing they are doing a good job.

The majority of city residents DISAGREE that the APD is doing a good job addressing property crime with 35% agreeing APD is doing a good job and 60% disagreeing they are doing a good job.

A slight majority of city residents DISAGREE that “the Albuquerque Police Department is ready to transition away from oversight by the federal government and operate on its own” with 39% agreeing APD is ready to transition away from federal oversight and 51% disagreeing APD is ready to transition away from federal oversight.

In addition to disagreeing with the positive APD statements, most city residents disagree that “The Albuquerque City Government is responsive to our community needs” with 35% agreeing that the Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs and 61% disagreeing Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs.

The link to review the entire unedited survey report is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/progress/documents/albuquerque-yearly-survey-2023.pdf

CONCLUSION

Chief Medina exhibited a tremendous degree of sure smugness, arrogance and a sense of entitlement to the job when he said this as he smiled:

“You never know. You just don’t know what the future is going to bring. I mean, there’s so many unknowns, you know, we have a mayor’s race in the fall. I’m very happy with the structure I have now. I don’t know if I’d want to work for another mayor. … ”

The blunt truth is that it’s very doubtful any other Mayor will want to keep Medina as Chief.

One thing that can be guaranteed as a certainty is that APD Chief Harold Medina will be a major issue and a liability for Keller in the 2025 Mayor’s race because of all the scandal and corruption that swirls around APD and Medina himself.

If Medina wants to help Mayor Keller get elected, he would step down immediately so as not to jeopardize Keller’s re-election chances. But that will never happen because Harold Medina is too self-centered and too greedy to think of anyone but himself.

If Keller loses, Medina will just retire and get his vested pension of up to $200,000 a year for the rest of his life.

APD Fires One Commander, One Lieutenant As One Sergeant Resigns; All 3 Implicated In Largest Law Enforcement Corruption Scandal In History To Accept Bribes To Get DWI Cases Dismissed; Score Card Of Who Implicated, Who Have Plead Guilty

Posted on March 26, 2025 by

On Tuesday March 26, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announced it has fired one commander, one lieutenant and that one sergeant has resigned with all three implicated in the federal DWI Enterprise to accept bribes from DWI criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendes to secure dismissal of DWI cases.

APD announced it has fired Deputy Commander Gustavo Gomez, who was placed on leave on October 16, 2024 and Lieutenant Matthew Chavez who was placed on leave January 24, 2025. They were both placed on leave after they were targeted in the federal investigation in which officers took bribes to get DWI cases dismissed. APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Deputy Commander Gustavo Gomez and Lieutenant Matthew Chavez were fired for violating policies “related to the DWI investigation” but Gallegos declined to elaborate on the specifics of the violations.

APD announced that Sergeant Lucas Perez has resigned. It was on March 24, APD announced it had placed Sergeant Lucas Perez on leave as a part of its internal investigation into its DWI unit and the federal investigation. Perez was placed on leave after APD officials were notified by the New Mexico U.S. Attorney’s Office that Perez, a former DWI unit sergeant, was under scrutiny as part of the FBI’s continuing investigation into what they refer to as the DWI Enterprise. Federal prosecutors identified Perez as one of those under criminal investigation whose credibility could be challenged if asked to testify in court on other cases. Perez has been with the department since 2016 and served in the DWI unit to become the unit sergeant.

All three had previously been in the DWI unit and were placed on paid leave in the past year. None of the three have been charged criminally in the FBI’s ongoing investigation.

Links to relied upon or quoted news sources are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-dwi-officers-fired/64290852

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/albuquerque-police-fires-two-more-officers-involved-in-dwi-deception-scandal/

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_ab198a9a-d039-41fa-8328-1b3cf4f91ba4.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT WHO HAVE PLEAD GUILTY AS CHARGED

Thus far, four APD officers and one Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy have pleaded guilty to taking bribes from defense attorney Thomas Clear III and paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez to let their client’s DWI cases get dismissed. Those former law enforcement officers are:

On February 7, 2025 former APD Officer Honorio Alba plead guilty to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy. (Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
On February 7, former APD Officer Joshua Montaño, Montaño plead guilty as charge to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy. (Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
On February 12, former APD Officer Neill Elsman plead guilty as charged to 5 counts of conspiracy, extortion, and bribery. ( February 12, 2025.)
On March 24, former APD officer Nelson Ortiz admitted to his role in the DWI Enterprise bribery scandal and pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right. He faces 20 years in prison. (https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/albuquerque-police-department-dwi-investigation/fourth-former-apd-officer-admits-to-role-in-dwi-scheme/)
On February 25, 2025 BCSO Deputy Jeff Hammerel resigned from BCSO and plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of extortion and two counts of bribery. (Took a plea deal on February 25, 2025.)

RING LEADERS PLEAD GUILTY AS CHARGED

Former DWI Criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear III and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez have also plead guilty as charged to paying bribes to law enforcement to get their client’s DWI cases get dismissed.

On February 12, DWI defense attorney Thomas Clear III, 67 plead guilty as charged to nine federal charges including racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, bribery, and extortion. Clear faces up to 130 years in prison and $2 million in fines. Clear admits in his Plea Agreement 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. 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. Clear has been permanently disbarred from the practice of law by the New Mexico Supreme Court and the Federal Court.

On January 24, Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, 53, the investigator for attorney Thomas Clear III, plead guilty to all the charges contained in the criminal Information including racketeering, bribery of an agent receiving federal funds, aiding and abetting, interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right and to conspiracy. According to the criminal Information filed, for the past 15 years, at least one lawyer and officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office ran a racketeering enterprise taking bribes in exchange for dismissing drunk driving cases. Mendez was arrested, plead guilty to all the charges and was released on his own recognizance. Mendez is facing 110 years in prison on the charges. State court records show he was arrested multiple times in the 90s for driving drunk. His sentencing is set for April 29 before a Federal Judge.

15 APD OFFICERS IMPLICATED, CHARGED OR PLEAD GUILTY

During the past year, a total of 15 APD Police officers have been implicated in the largest corruption scandal in APD’s history. APD Commander Kyle Hartsock is overseeing the Internal Affairs investigations. One by one, the accused APD officers have been turning in their badges and resigning or retiring rather than talking to Internal Affairs investigators about an alleged public corruption scheme involving DWI cases. The names and dates of the 15 officers who have resigned, placed on leave, who have been terminated, retired, charged or plead guilty are:

On February 7, 2024 Justin Hunt, who started at APD in 2000, resigned.
On February 29, 2024, Honorio Alba, who started at APD in 2014, resigned. On February 7, 2025 he plead guilty to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy. (Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
On March 13, 2024, Harvey Johnson, who started at APD in 2014, resigned.
On March 15, 2024, Nelson Ortiz, who started at APD in 2016, resigned. On March 24, Nelson Ortiz admitted to his role in the DWI Enterprise bribery scandal and pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right. He faces 20 years in prison.
On March 20, 2024 Joshua Montaño, who started at APD January 2005, resigned. On Friday, February 8, Montaño plead guilty as charge to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy. (Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
On May 2, 2024 Daren DeAguero, who started with APD in 2009, resigned.
On May 9, 2024, Matthew Trahan was placed on paid leave as the investigation playsout. 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 February 12, Elsman plead guilty as charged to 5 counts of conspiracy, extortion, and bribery. ( Article: February 12, 2025.)
On August 1, APD announced that it fired Mark Landavazo,the APD Commander of Internal Affairs for Professional Standards, who started with APD in 2007 and was with the DWI unit from 2008 through 2013.
October 16, Deputy Commander Gustavo Gomez 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 on leave.
On February 28, Kyle Curtis announced his retirement after he was placed on leave on February 24 amid being targeted in the Internal investigation involving DWI arrests.
In 2022, Timothy McCarson retired from the Albuquerque Police Department and he has been implicated in the DWI scandal. The last week of January, 2025, the FBI asked that he be added to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office‘s Giglio list, which classifies potential court testimony as unreliable.
On March 7, 2025 BCSO Jeffry Bartram was placed on leave on March after he was involved in the DWI Enterprise to dismiss cases. He has been with BCSO since February 2010 and was on the BCSO DWI Unit from July 2014 to August 2020.
On March 24, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announce it has placed Sgt. Lucas Perez on leave as a part of its internal investigation into its DWI unit and the federal investigation. Perez has been with the department since 2016 and served in the DWI unit to become the unit sergeant.

TWO BERNALILLO COUNTY SHERRIFF DEPUTIES

On February 25, 2025 BCSO Deputy Jeff Hammerel resigned from BCSO and plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of extortion and two counts of bribery. (Took a plea deal on February 25, 2025.)

On February 24, 2025, BCSO Undersheriff Johann Jareno was asked to resign by Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen. (Articles: – named and resigned)

NEW MEXICO STATE POLICE

On February 14, 2025 the New Mexico State Police announced it placed Sgt. Toby LaFave on administrative leave after he was implicated by the FBI as accepting bribes in the DWI Enterprise to dismiss cases. Sergeant Toby LaFave is on paid leave as the agency does its own internal investigation into allegations. LaFave was featured for years in state ENDWI campaigns and was referred to as the DWI King.

LaFave, who joined State Police in 2012, said in an online video that he has made 3,000 arrests during his 20 years in law enforcement. Court records show LaFave has filed at least 1,300 felony and misdemeanor DWI cases from 2009 to February, 2025. Of the 31 DWI cases where LaFave was the arresting officer and Clear was the defense attorney, 17, or 57%, were dismissed by the courts.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_97483524-eb17-11ef-9c15-8320a7b16191.htm/

DWI CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE

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 prominent DWI criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear, III and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez. All those targeted with a search warrant are accused of being involved in a bribery and conspiracy scheme to dismiss DWI cases.

Over the last year, the investigation has evolved into the single largest law enforcement corruption case in the city’s history involving APD, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico State Police with no end in sight.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman has had to dismiss more than 272 DWI cases involving law enforcement officers linked to the federal case and due to police officer credibility being called into question in the cases where they made the DWI arrests.

More than a year into their investigation, the FBI continues to seek out those who participated in the near 30-year criminal enterprise in which law enforcement officers coordinated with defense attorney Thomas Clear, III and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez to get drunken driving cases thrown out of court by paying bribes to arresting officers.

According to criminal complaints, indictments and plea agreements filed in Federal District Court by the New Mexico United States Attorney and the US Department of Justice, DWI officers would give contact information on motorists they arrested to Mendez and Clear. In exchange, they would receive cash, gifts and legal services and intentionally fail to show up to required pretrial interviews, court hearings. They would also withheld evidence in cases where the suspects hired Clear. Clear would then file motions to dismiss the charges, and judges would dismiss cases as a sanction against the prosecution.

Clients whose cases were dismissed would typically pay more in legal fees of between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on if the charges were DWI or aggravated DWI. Law enforcement officers would be recruited by Clear and Mendez to participate in the scheme over many years. The conspirators would also profile people as to their ability to pay higher fees. Defense attorneys customarily charge between $3,000 and $6,000 to defend DWI cases depending on if the case is a person’s first, second, third or even the fourth offense, misdemeanor or felony DWI, while there is no charge if a person qualifies and is defended by the Public Defender’s Office.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

There is 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”.

The only way that any semblance of faith will be restored and for people to begin trusting APD and law enforcement in general again is if all the police officers and the lawyers involved in this scandal go to jail and thereby held accountable for what they have done

It is only a matter of time before others are implicated and those identified are charged.

One APD Cop Placed On Leave, One Former APD Cop Pleads Guity To One Count Conspiracy In Bribery Scheme To Dismiss DWI Cases; Attorney Thomas Clear Disbarred By Federal Judge; NM Supreme Court Suspends Attorney Rudolph “Rudy” Chavez; DWI Enterprise Corruption Score Card At A Glance

Posted on March 25, 2025 by

And the beat goes on with the largest law enforcement corruption case in the city’s history involving members of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department (BCSO) and the New Mexico State Police (NMSP) conspiring with and accepting bribes from local criminal defense Attorney Thomas Clear, III and his para legal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez to get DWI cases dismissed.

APD SEARGEANT PLACED ON LEAVE

On March 24, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announced it placed Sgt. Lucas Perez on leave as a part of its internal investigation into its DWI unit and the federal investigation. Perez was placed on leave after APD officials were notified by the New Mexico U.S. Attorney’s Office that Perez, a former DWI unit sergeant, was under scrutiny as part of the FBI’s continuing investigation into what they refer to as the DWI Enterprise, the massive, 30-year conspiracy in which law enforcement accepted bribes to get DWI cases dismissed. Federal prosecutors identified Perez as one of those under criminal investigation whose credibility could be challenged if asked to testify in court on other cases. Perez has not been criminally charged. Perez has been with the department since 2016 and served in the DWI unit to become the unit sergeant.

FORMER APD OFFICER NELSON ORTIZ PLEADS GUILTY

On March 24, former APD officer Nelson Ortiz admitted to his role in the DWI Enterprise bribery scandal, becoming the fifth law enforcement officer (4 APD officers, 1 BCSO Officer) to plead guilty as charged and the 7^th person to plead guilty when you include Thomas Clear and Rick Mendez. Ortiz pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right. According to the plea agreement, Ortiz worked with paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez and Defense Attorney Thomas Clear III to get DWI cases dismissed in exchange for bribes between April 2020 and January 2024.

Ortiz’s specifically admits in his plea that he received cash payments of at least $500. He also admits that even after leaving the DWI unit, he continued to refer DWI suspects arrested by other APD officers to Mendez and Clear. In addition to getting cases dismissed, Ortiz admits he received a “referral fee” for helping recruit officers to join the “DWI Enterprise” and set up meetings for recruits with Rick Mendez and/or Thomas Clear. Ortiz told the federal authorities Mendez would also use his name to help recruits feel comfortable participating because he had risen through APD’s ranks to sergeant.

After learning of his connection to the “DWI Enterprise,” APD placed Ortiz on paid administrative leave. He then resigned in March 2024, just days after investigators with Internal Affairs tried to schedule an interview with him about the scheme. Nelson Ortiz was one of the first APD officers federal investigators named involved with the scheme.

On January 2, 2024, the U.S. Attorney requested Ortiz be added to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Giglio list, meaning he’s no longer a credible witness. As a result, the Bernalillo County District Attorney was forced to drop 17 of Ortiz’s pending cases. Ortiz faces up to 20 years in prison. Ortiz first joined APD in 2016 and served in APD’s DWI Unit in 2018 before joining the Motors Unit in 2021.

Nelson Ortiz’s case of pleading to one federal count carrying a sentence of 20 years is highly reduce when compared to the other plea agreements of former APD officers Honorio Alba Jr., Joshua Montaño, Neill Elsman, and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jeff Hammerel. The 4 plead guilty to multiple counts and face sentences from 70 to 130 years in prison.

Links to relied upon or quoted news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/albuquerque-police-department-dwi-investigation/fourth-former-apd-officer-admits-to-role-in-dwi-scheme/

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-police-officer-guilty-dwi-scandal/64278097

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/former-apd-officer-takes-plea-deal-in-dwi-deception-investigation/

https://www.abqjournal.com/article_f236baaa-366e-415c-af73-da108c28fa86.html

CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE KENNETH GONZALES DISBARS THOMAS CLEAR III

On March 20, Chief U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales issued a court order that permanently disbarred Thomas Clear III from practicing law in all federal courts in the United States. The court order filed in U.S. District Court by Judge Gonzales states in part:

“The Court subsequently notified Mr. Clear that it appears that disbarment is the appropriate discipline in this case due to the nature of Mr. Clear’s conduct.”

Federal District Judge Gonzales previously asked Clear to “Show Cause” as to why he shouldn’t be disbarred after he pleaded guilty to bribery, racketeering conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and interference with commerce by extortion. In response, Clear waived his right to a hearing on the matter and said he “does not object to being disbarred for the conduct set forth in his plea agreement.”

On February 12, DWI defense attorney Thomas Clear III, 67 plead guilty to nine federal charges including racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, bribery, and extortion and admitting he was the primary principle behind the DWI Enterprise to pay bribes to law enforcement for the dismissal of DWI cases. Clear admitted to running the racketeering scheme for decades, bribing APD officers, BCSO Deputies and State Police Officers in order to have the cases dismissed. Four APD officers and one BCSO Deputy have admitted to taking bribes to miss hearings resulting in the cases being dismissed. Clear faces up to 130 years in prison and $2 million in fines. The New Mexico Supreme Court has also disbarred Clear from the practice of law

The link to the relied upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_41a485fe-db9e-4ac1-bb63-887adfa3b1e4.html

NEW MEXICO SUPREME COURT SUSPENDS ATTORNEY RUDOLPH “RUDY” CHAVEZ

On March 18, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled 4-1 to immediately but temporarily suspend the law license of Albuquerque DWI criminal defense attorney Rudolph “Rudy” Chavez over allegations linking him to the ongoing federal bribery and conspiracy case to dismiss DWI cases by Albuquerque Police, Bernalillo County Sheriff Deputies and State Police Officers. The court set an April 7 hearing to listen to oral arguments on a petition filed by the Disciplinary Board of the New Mexico Supreme Court seeking his suspension from the practice of law. Chavez has not been criminally charged.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_f3f71a74-0449-11f0-a674-1fa91ae82bad.html

DWI CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE

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 where they made DWI arrests. Over the last year, the investigation has evolved into the single largest law enforcement corruption case in the city’s history involving APD, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico State Police with no end in sight.

More than a year into their investigation, the FBI continues to seek out those who participated in the near 30-year criminal enterprise in which law enforcement officers coordinated with defense attorney Thomas Clear, III and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez to get drunken driving cases thrown out of court by paying bribes to arresting officers.

According to criminal complaints, indictments and plea agreements filed in Federal District Court by the New Mexico United States Attorney and the US Department of Justice, DWI officers would give contact information on motorists they arrested to Mendez and Clear. In exchange, they would receive cash, gifts and legal services and intentionally fail to show up to required pretrial interviews, court hearings. The would also withhold evidence in cases where the suspects hired Clear. Clear would then file motions to dismiss the charges, and judges would do so as a sanction against the prosecution.

DWI ENTERPRISE CORRUPTION SCORE CARD

The corruption score card thus far is as follows:

Eighteen law enforcement officers consisting of fourteen APD Officers, three BCSO officers, including the undersheriff, and one NMSP Sergeant, have been implicated, resigned or retired.
Four APD officers and one BCSO Deputy have plead guilty as charged with no sentencing agreement for their involvement in the DWI Enterprise and accepting bribes to dismiss DWI cases. Depending on the charges plead to, they face 20 years or between 70 to 130 years in prison.
Thomas Clear, III and his paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez plead guilty to all federal charges with no agreement as to sentencing with both facing up to 130 years in prison. Clear has been disbarred from the practice of law and his law offices forfeited.
Albuquerque DWI criminal defense attorney Rudolph “Rudy” Chavez has been temporarily suspended from the practice of law by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is only a matter of time before others are implicated and those identified are charged.

Three Killed,15 Injured In Las Cruces Mass Shooting Involving Teenagers; One Adult, 3 Teenagers Charged With Murder; Understaffed Police Department Blamed; Governor Contemplates Special Session To Deal With Juvenile Crime; 2025 Legislature Was Derelict In Not Addressing Juvenile Crime

Posted on March 24, 2025 by

On Friday night March 21, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at around 10:00 p.m., upwards of 200 young people, mostly teenagers, gathered at the Young Park near Lohman Avenue and I-25 for an unsanctioned, impromptu car show. A gun battle broke out between two groups with a history of problems with each other. The random gunfire killed a 16-year-old boy and two young men ages 18 and 19. Fifteen others were injured, between the ages of 16 and 36.

The Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) and Las Cruces Fire Department first responders arrived on the scene and began treating people immediately while trying to deal with the chaos at the crime scene. Many of the injured were driven to local hospitals. Several of the most seriously injured were taken to University Medical Center in El Paso. Four people were treated at hospitals and released.

Las Cruces law enforcement cordoned off the crime scene, where the asphalt was littered with more than 50 to 60 bullet casings from multiple handguns. Las Cruces police said most of the shots appear to have been fired from the parking lot. Las Cruces Police Officials said one individual shown carrying an AR-15-style rifle in an image circulating widely on social media had been interviewed by police but it was found the person was not involved. All shell casings found at the crime scene were found to have come from hand guns and not AR-15-style rifle.

LAS CRUCES POLICE HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE

On Saturday morning March 22 Las Cruces Police Department Chief Jeremy Story held a news conference where he discussed what happened. Chief Story said his department has had problems in the park before. He said unsolicited car shows at the park have brought crime problems in the past. Chief Story said this:

“That area’s been trouble with crime more so in recent years. They’ve kind of ebbed and flowed, partly with weather and other things. They’ve become an issue and dealt with, done some projects, they become less of an issue and then they pop back up again. Definitely a problem.

“If they were just gathering and nothing was occurring that was illegal, I have no problem with that. The problem is, what tends to occur is a lot of illegal behavior with the vehicles and then also, in this case, there were firearms throughout this entire event. Some that were used in the shooting and just people with firearms willie-nilly”

Chief Story said the Las Cruces Police Department did not have a presence at the park at the time because the department did not have the units available and that his department is short staffed. Chief Story said this:

In a perfect world where I had 220 police officers like I’m supposed to, it probably would have been different last night, but I had no units available for most of the night prior to the shooting.

Chief Story promised a “thorough, meticulously documented investigation” and vowed to apprehend all parties responsible for the shooting and he said this:

“This senseless act is a stark reminder of the blatant disregard people in New Mexico have for the rule of law and order. It’s also a reminder of the utter lack of fear and accountability in New Mexico. … Our next focus is the apprehension of those involved and those responsible for this atrocity. We will find each and every one of them and we will hold them accountable to the criminal justice system.”

The FBI, ATF, NMSP, and the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department are also helping in the investigation. Police are asking anyone with video or photos to send it to them.

Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/3-teens-dead-in-las-cruces-park-shooting/

https://www.koat.com/article/las-cruces-mass-shooting-what-we-know-so-far/64261018

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_37ec3df7-af6d-49d7-a2d5-db393e41d56f.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

ONE ADULT, 3 TEENAGERS CHARGED WITH MURDER

On Sunday, March 23, the Las Cruces Police announced the arrests of one adult male and three teenagers allegedly responsible for the mass shooting at Young Park that resulted in the killing of 3 people and injuring 15. All four are in custody and each are facing three open counts of murder.

According to news reports, jail records reveal that Tomas Rivas, 20, was booked into Doña Ana County Detention Center at around 2:50 a.m. early Sunday morning and is being held without bond. According to jail records, Rivas was arrested at a residence on the north side of Las Cruces. Court records show Rivas has no prior criminal record in New Mexico. Rivas has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Las Cruces Police said that two 17-year-old boys and one 15-year-old boy, unidentified because they are minors, have been jailed in the juvenile section of the Doña Ana County Detention Center. The arrests of the second 17-year-old and the 15-year-old were announced Sunday afternoon, hours after police announced the arrest of Rivas and the first 17-year-old.

Las Cruces Police did not say how the suspects were identified nor whether additional suspects or persons of interest were being sought.

The link to the relied upon news sources are here:

https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/three-killed-in-las-cruces-shooting/

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_5c9f94d9-7905-4200-b271-73c3e0624bbf.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM ISSUES STATEMENT

On Saturday March 22, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued the following statement regarding the mass shooting:

“I am heartbroken and horrified by the mass shooting Friday night at Young Park in Las Cruces. Three people are dead and at least 15 others were wounded in this senseless act of violence. My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and the entire Las Cruces community during this unimaginably difficult time.

The indiscriminate nature of this shooting is both shocking and unacceptable, but sadly not surprising. This violence tears at the fabric of our communities and leaves wounds that may never heal.

I am mobilizing state resources to support local law enforcement in their investigation. If you have any information, particularly video or images that could help identify those responsible, please come forward and contact the Las Cruces Police Department immediately.

The disturbing rise in violent crime in Las Cruces—which has increased by 46 percent compared to last year—demands immediate and sustained attention. This is not merely a statistic; these are our neighbors, our children, our future.

The devastating loss of Officer Jonah Hernandez in Las Cruces last year, and now this mass shooting, underscore the legislature’s years-long failure to address the crime crisis shattering lives and communities in our state. New Mexicans are heartbroken, and they should also be outraged that their legislature will adjourn today without having a passed a single bill to address juvenile crime or ban assault weapons. Their inaction is appalling and unacceptable.

The public should demand that the New Mexico Legislature—and all public officials in our state—acknowledge New Mexico’s crime crisis and prompt them to act immediately to protect our communities. The legislature should expect a special session to address our ongoing public safety crisis.

I remain committed to working across all levels of government and with community partners to implement comprehensive solutions that address the root causes of gun violence while providing our law enforcement with the resources they need to protect New Mexicans.”

The link to the Governor’s statement is here:

https://www.governor.state.nm.us/2025/03/22/gov-lujan-grisham-statement-on-las-cruces-mass-shooting/

GOVENOR LUJAN GRISHAM SUGGESTS SPECIAL SESSION

On Saturday March 22, during a news conference, Governor Michelle Lujan excoriated lawmakers for not passing bills dealing with juvenile crime during this year’s 60-day session, saying she would likely call the Legislature back for a special session in the wake of a shooting in Las Cruces that left multiple people dead. She went so far to say she would likely call the Legislature back into special session to address juvenile crime.

In her interview, Governor Lujan Grisham described herself as angry, frustrated and grieving. She vowed to hold accountable the perpetrators of the mass shooting. She criticized Democratic lawmakers for their failure to enact legislation increasing criminal penalties. Lujan Grisham said this:

“They promised a lot more in this session on public safety. … The longer we wait, the more victims we have. … Accountability is missing in New Mexico and has been for quite some time.”

The Governor said she had not decided for certain when she might call lawmakers back to Santa Fe. She said the decision would be made after taking time to process the Las Cruces tragedy and assist the families of the victims.

House and Senate Republicans also called on the governor to call a special session on violent crime saying their proposals on the issues were rebuffed by Democrats during the session. House Minority Whip Alan Martinez, R-Bernalillo, said this during a Saturday March 22 news conference:

“Republicans made attempt after attempt to pass meaningful crime legislation, but we were blocked at every turn.”

House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, took strong exception to the Republican accusation saying Democratic lawmakers had approved legislation aimed at addressing deeply rooted societal issues that contribute to juvenile crime. House Speaker Martínez cited a bill creating an outside oversight office for New Mexico’s troubled Children, Youth and Families Department. Martínez said this:

“You cannot talk about juvenile crime without ensuring that this state steps up and shows up for those children who are in situations where they are struggling.”

Martínez said Democratic lawmakers had stood firm against proposals to lock up youthful defendants and treat them as if they were “disposable.”

As for the possibility of a special session, Speaker Martínez said legislators would try to work collaboratively if such a session is called and cautioned that rushing such a session without ample time for negotiations could lead to a “waste of taxpayer dollars” and a “waste of people’s time.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_19aa141e-c90a-43b8-91e4-44882b0aa045.html

https://sourcenm.com/briefs/gov-lujan-grisham-castigates-legislature-in-aftermath-of-las-cruces-shooting/

RECALLING LEGISLATION THAT PASSED AND FAILED DURING 2025 SESSION

On February 27 Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law the Omnibus Crime Package. The crime package passed by lawmakers is House Bill 8. House Bill 8, is a compilation of six different bills that were consolidated into a single bill. It includes provisions dealing with fentanyl trafficking and increasing sentences for trafficking fentanyl. It includes grouping together the sentences for four different crimes related to stealing motor vehicles. It allows police officers to test someone’s blood for drugs or alcohol if they refuse to take a breath test and the police have probable cause to believe they committed a misdemeanor. It also includes outlawing the devices used to convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons. It makes changes to how New Mexico handles criminal defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial and adding a dangerousness evaluation in such cases and giving judges more options for treatment programs.

Despite the urging from Governor Lujan Grisham, few other public safety bills were approved during the final weeks of the 2025 session as several bills dealing with juvenile crime either stalled in committee without any hearings or were simply voted down by lawmakers. A proposed assault weapon ban died without a hearing in a Senate committee. Lawmakers did approve an expansion of the state’s red flag gun law that Lujan Grisham is expected to sign.

Among the more notable measures dealing with crime and public safety that failed to be enacted during the 2025 New Mexico legislative session include the following:

An Assault weapon ban.
Pre Trial detention making it easier to hold defendants charged with violent crimes in jail without bond pending trial with a presumption of being violent.
Repeal firearm sale waiting periods.
Make fentanyl trafficking a first-degree felony punishable by a life sentence.
Increase penalties for felons convicted of firearm possession.
Reform of the juvenile criminal justice system.

The link to the relied upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_23015778-029f-11f0-b5cd-9b9e229895ca.html

2025 LEGISLATURE FAILS TO REFORM JUVENILE JUSTICE

The biggest disappointment of the 2025 New Mexico Legislature was its total failure to update the juvenile criminal justice system as it is embodied in the Children’s Code to deal with teens committing adult violent crimes.

Beginning in October of last year, and up and through the 2025 New Mexico Legislative session, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman aggressively advocated and lobbied the New Mexico legislature for an overhaul of New Mexico’s juvenile criminal code. DA Bregman’s original plan included 36 changes to New Mexico’s juvenile justice laws, all meant to increase the consequences and accountability for violent teen suspects.

The three biggest changes to the Children’s Code and Delinquency Act District Attorney Bregman suggested were:

Expanding the definition of “Serious Youthful Offender” to include second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, criminal sexual penetration (rape), armed robbery with the use of a firearm, shooting at or from a motor vehicle causing great bodily harm or death, and shooting at dwelling or occupied building causing great bodily harm or death.

Extending the age of possible imprisonment for “Youthful Offenders” from 21 to 25 years old. As the law is currently written, once a juvenile offender turns 21, in most cases, the criminal justice system automatically loses jurisdiction. Extending jurisdiction to age 25 would provide more time to get youthful offenders to get the treatment and supervision they need, while also monitoring the progress they are making.

Making it a felony for unlawful possession of a firearm for people under 19 to have any guns, including rifles, and not just handguns. Right now, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 19 to be in possession of a handgun. However, it is not illegal for anyone under the age of 19 to possess an assault rifle. The law would be updating language from “handgun” to “firearm,”which will include assault rifles. Bregman is also proposing to increase the penalty for this crime from a misdemeanor to a fourth-degree felony.

Before the 2025 New Mexico Legislative session began, Bregman told the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee that from January, 2024 to November 2024 there were 1,448 juvenile cases. This includes 24 homicides with defendants under the age 18 currently detained and facing murder charges in New Mexico, 386 cases involving firearms, 49 armed robberies, and 44 rapes. From 2022 to 2023, there’s been a 57% increase in cases that involved kids with guns. However, in the first ten months of 2024, there was a 37.5% decrease in juvenile felony gun crimes compared to the same time in 2023.

Bregman told the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee this:

The last time the Children’s Code was updated in any meaningful way, as far as the Delinquency Act, was in the previous century. It was before the iPhone was even invented, and we all know things have changed dramatically, especially when it comes to juveniles and iPhones. …

It’s just so there’s some consequences to understand that there’s certain laws and norms in our society that people need to follow. … Because at the end of the day, if you commit these kind of heinous, awful kind of adult crimes, you should be charged as an adult. … At the end of the day, it’s to have consequences for young people so that we’re not sentencing them for murder. I want them to know that the first time they get in trouble, there’s some consequences.”

“Too many people, too many victims are killed by juveniles in our community. … Juveniles without consequences who later commit murder or violent crimes happens every single week in Bernalillo County. … We have to do some things so they learn when they first enter the criminal justice system that their conduct of violating certain laws and norms cannot continue without a consequence. Therefore, they learn it, because we’re not at the end of the day… As far as violent crime in Albuquerque, the thing that we could do most to move the needle is reform, is juvenile code fixing.”

HOUSE BILL 124 KILLED IN COMMITEE

House Bill 134 introduced during the 2025 legislative session was a bipartisan juvenile justice reform bill to rewrite New Mexico’s juvenile justice laws as embodied in the Children’s Code. It would have expanded the list of violent crimes where juveniles can be charged as adults and as a “serious youthful offender” to make sure violent teen suspects are held accountable for those crimes. It would have set aside money for programs providing services for youth in detention or CYFD and establish a panel to determine what comes next for a juvenile sentenced to a detention facility.

House Bill 134 languished in committee for weeks despite being introduced during the first days of the session. On March 6, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee debated a slimmed-down version of House Bill 134 and the committee voted 4 to 2 to table the legislation thereby killing the bill. With the 4 Democrats voting in favor of killing the legislation and keeping it from advancing, it meant the bill would not advance any further in the 2025 legislative session that ended on March 22.

Republican State Representatives Andrea Reeb, one of the sponsors of the bill said this:

“I’m disappointed, frustrated. I pre-filed this bill before the session even started. I wanted to give it the biggest chance to get across the finish line. I was assigned to CPAC, which we generally know is the kill committee and I did my first presentation. They had a lot of concerns. I edited the bill and then I just could not seem to get the bill heard. … I was pretty much told by the chair it wasn’t going to be heard. Then, I finally, for some unknown reason, I ended up getting the bill scheduled [for hearing]. So, that was the first time we actually had been able to present the bill with our changes and all the stakeholders that we brought into it.”

Crime, juvenile violent offenders in New Mexico are really what I feel is the biggest problem we’re facing right now with crime. So, what this did was just literally deal with two parts. It took what we call serious youthful offenders. And it added where [it] used to be just first-degree murder. We [added] … second-degree murder … armed robbery … shooting at or from a motor vehicle … causing great bodily harm … [and] involuntary manslaughter. And we lowered the age from 15 to 14 because, as you know, we’re having way younger offenders that are shooting and killing people.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The two biggest glaring takeaways, aside from the sure senseless violence and killing of 3 innocent people and the injury of 15, from the Las Cruces mass shooting are:

The mass shooting was likely preventable.
The New Mexico Legislature was derelict in not to recognizing that juvenile crime is statewide and is simply out of control.

MASS SHOOTING LIKELY PREVENATABLE

It was downright shocking to hear Las Cruces Chief of Police Jeremy Story say the Las Cruces Police Department did not have a presence at the park at the time of the shootings because the department did not have the police units available and that his department is short staffed. Chief Story said this:

“In a perfect world where I had 220 police officers like I’m supposed to, it probably would have been different last night, but I had no units available for most of the night prior to the shooting.”

What Chief Story was saying is that increase police patrols would likely have stopped the unsponsored event and the gathering and thereby prevented the shootings. The staffing and management of law enforcement will always be the most critical component to enforcing our criminal justice laws. Simply put, we can enact the strongest criminal laws in the country, but if there are no law enforcement personnel to act and enforce them, the laws are useless.

NEW MEXICO LEGISLATURE WAS DERELECT

The March 21 Las Cruces mass shooting involving 3 teenagers that resulted in 3 dead and 15 injured should be a major wake up call to the New Mexico legislature, especially for State Senator Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces who is the powerful chairman of the Senate Judiciary where many crime related bills have gone to die over the pass few sessions.

It was in January 2022 that Cervantes said that all crime-related legislation proposed by the governor and law enforcement officials would be closely scrutinized by his Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs. Senator Cervantes suggested a better-funded state judicial system would do more to address crime rates than hasty changes to sentencing laws. “It’s a problem that Albuquerque has largely created for itself,” Cervantes said, pointing out at the time violent crime rates in some parts of southern New Mexico are much lower than in New Mexico’s largest city.

The link to the quoted or relied upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/local/article_11e7eb77-5ddf-5d19-91c5-ba4f2e694862.html

As the Governor pointed out in her statement on the mass shooting there had been a “disturbing rise in violent crime in Las Cruces—which has increased by 46 percent compared to last year— [and it] demands immediate and sustained attention.”

The March 21 Las Cruces mass shooting is definitive proof that juvenile crime is a state wide problem that demands immediate attention. It is not an issue of locking up youthful defendants and treating them as if they were “disposable” as House Speaker Javier Martínez falsely proclaimed. It is an issue of aggressively addressing the crisis of teenagers committing violent crimes. Under the existing children’s code teenagers who commit violent crimes essentially face no consequences for their actions and are simply released to their parents under probation. Victims of violent crimes and their families are entitled to see that justice is served upon those who commit violent crimes against them, assuming they are still alive.

The failure of House Bill 134 to pass the New Mexico legislature is as about as disappointing as it gets. The proposed update of the Children’s Code of adding violent crimes to allow juveniles teens to be charged as “serious youthful offender” to make sure violent teen suspects are held accountable for those crimes was reasonable and measured. It was an acknowledgement of a crisis that needs to be dealt with. Instead, it was a dereliction of duty for the New Mexico legislature to simply ignored what is going on with teens committing adult violent crimes and leaving no real options to secure justice for victims of violent crime.

Democrats have a commanding 43-26 majority in the House and a 26-16 majority in the Senate. If there was ever a realistic chance for the New Mexico Legislature to enact major reform measures for teens committing adult violent crimes, the 2025 session was the year to do it. Instead, the legislature looked the other way and pretended there is no problem and simply killed all efforts to reform the juvenile justice system thereby kicking the can down the road.

Governor Lujan Grisham should not hesitate to call a special session as soon as possible to again to consider public safety measures. The agenda for the special session should include the reconsideration of House Bill 134 and all the proposals to the Children’s Code advocated by Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman as well as all those public safety measures that failed during the 2025 including an assault weapons band, pre trial detention measures and increasing firearm purchase waiting periods and making it a first degree felony for shooting into crowds.

The blunt reality is that juvenile violent crime is not and Albuquerque crisis but a State wide crisis. It now time for the legislature to act.

The link to a related Dinelli article is here:

2025 New Mexico Legislature Update: Juvenile Justice Reform Killed In Committee; Legislature Fails To Update Children’s Code To Deal With Crisis Of Teens Committing Adult Violent Crimes

Mayor Tim Keller’s KOAT TV “One-On-One” Extended Interview; 5 Announced Candidates; 3 More Expected; Commentary and Analysis: Keller’s 8 Years Of Failed Policies; City Needs A New Mayor With The Gravitas And Experience To Move It Forward

Posted on March 20, 2025 by

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller officially announced his run for reelection on Thursday, March 13, 2025. On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, KOAT’s Faith Egbuonu spoke with Mayor Keller in a remarkable extended one-on-one “sit down interview” on why he is running for a third term. She asked Mayor Keller more than a few uncomfortable questions including:

“What do you say to voters that supported you in the past but now have doubts? Some expressed you’ve had 8 years to tackle issues at top of mind for New Mexicans, but yet nothing has been done?”

KOAT TV ran a very short, abbreviated version of the Keller interview as a news item but published the full transcript on its web page. Below is the transcription of the full interview:

REPORTER EGBUONU: Why a third term?

MAYOR KELLER:

“There’s really two reasons. The first reason is because we’ve been working hard on some decades-old challenges that we’ve had, whether it’s crime or homelessness, even some major projects for our families, and we’re finally breaking through, we’re seeing traction on our crime technology efforts, on the gateway system actually taking thousands of people off the street, and we’ve got to see these through.

So, the primary reason is to make sure that we keep doing these ideas that are working, and that’s really important because we did the real work and the hard work for years to actually fix some of these long-standing challenges. Now, we’ve got to use those fixes and actually make sure they lift up our city every day. Second reason is really because of what’s happening with respect to the turmoil in D.C. and its effect on our city.

I woke up after the election with renewed resolve. I’ve seen the first round of Trump when I was mayor before, and you’ve got to have strong, steady leadership to push back on all the funding cuts, all the division that’s gonna be put upon our city, and that’s already happening. And so I’m resolved to see that through, and that’s why I need another term.”

REPORTER EGBUONU: What do you plan to accomplish if you’re reelected again?

MAYOR KELLER:

“I have two real goals for another term. And the first one is we’ve got to follow through on some of the things that are finally gaining traction in our city. This has to do with like crime technology, which is finally making a difference when it comes to crime fighting, the one-stop shop gateway system, which has taken a thousand people off the streets.

We need it to be two. And it’s also about finishing some incredible projects like the rail trail, the CNM rail yards academy, bringing UNM downtown. These are all things that we’re gaining traction on. but we need a little more time to actually get the job done.”

CRIME

REPORTER EGBUONU: As of today, where do we stand with crime? That’s one of the biggest issues at top of mind for New Mexicans right now.

MAYOR KELLER:

“I’ll give you an example which I think speaks to the general situation for crime in Albuquerque. For almost a decade we were number one in auto theft, we were the worst in the nation. And now we’re like number eighth, the eighth worst. This is a good example because it says the truth, which is that we’ve turned the corner on a lot of these issues, but we’re coming down from all-time highs.

So, we have to keep doing what’s working, and we know we’re going the right direction. That’s what’s changed about two years ago. We saw this across homicide, we saw it across assaults, and a couple of other categories of violent crime. But we’ve got to keep using the crime technology that we’re doing and the techniques that we’re doing around warrant arrests to make sure that that trend continues. But absolutely, a long way to go. I mean, that’s clear. That’s also why I need some more time.”

REPORTER EGBUONU: You’ve talked about crime reduction while you’ve been in office. Elaborate a bit more of what’s been done while you’ve been in office for eight years.

MAYOR KELLER:

“When I came in, what we saw was a department that was literally falling off a cliff. It was in terrible shape. We had officers leaving in droves. The consent decree was bogged down and going nowhere. And also crime numbers continued to go up. This had been happening for a decade. And it took us a while to really get on the right track, especially with COVID in the middle.

So, I mean, we lost several years in general in the city on what we were doing there. But about two years ago, we started to see progress. and it’s really because of two factors. The crime-fighting technology that we’ve invested, the fact that we’re rebuilding the ranks, and actually the other piece is civilians.

We use civilians now more than we ever have so that we free up officers to fight violent crime. So that’s our community safety departments taking 80,000 calls that police didn’t have to. That’s why you see public service aides taking traffic accident reports. It’s so we’re freed up to fight crime, and that’s what’s enabled us to bring some of these numbers finally down. So we literally had to rebuild the department. That’s what we’ve been doing, and now it’s actually in a much, much better position.”

REPORTER EGBUONU: Would you agree there’s still more work to be done?

MAYOR KELLER:

“Absolutely and that’s why I’m actually interested in a few more years because we know what to do now. We’ve done the hard work to actually fix the broken department but now we actually have to use it fully to fight crime each and every day.”

DOUBTERS

REPORTER EGBUONU: What do you say to voters that supported you in the past but now have doubts? Some expressed you’ve had 8 years to tackle issues at top of mind for New Mexicans, but yet nothing has been done?”

MAYOR KELLER:

“First off, I see what you see, right? I have, whether it’s being in the community with my kids or whether it’s walking to work, I literally understand as well like how challenged these times are. But now is not the time to change.

And the reason is because we’re finally gaining traction. We’re breaking through after years of investment in the really hard things, whether it’s rebuilding a homelessness system or it’s salvaging a police department from falling apart, we’ve done that hard work.

And so now, I didn’t want a few more years, I didn’t want another term, but I need another term because I know that we can’t change direction. That is going to be especially dangerous with what’s going on in D.C. right now. We need strong, steady leadership, and I’m here for that duration and for those reasons, and that’s why I think folks should give us a chance, I think, to finish the job.”

HOMELESS CRISIS

REPORTER EGBUONU: Where do we stand right now with homelessness?

MAYOR KELLER:

“When we came in, for decades, this is the same situation as crime in a sense that our city had never faced homelessness head-on. We’d never done the actual work to say, how do you get someone off the street into services, and where does that all happen? And we took the time to actually fix those issues.

We built the community safety department to do transportation. Then we created the Gateway, a one-stop shop, which is finally open. It just opened in September with its 24-7 drop-off and medical sobering. So now we have a one place for folks to go that’s 24-7. And now we’re building out the other places like a youth shelter and recovery where people can finally get addiction and treatment.

Those are all online to be open and helping people either this year or next year. And so now we’re seeing the fruits of all that hard work but we’ve got to see it through. And if we do that, we’re going to move from when I started to taking zero people, every night in Albuquerque to a place where they can get help. That’s what we used to do.

And now we’re actually taking care of a thousand people every night. And if we finish what we’ve planned, we’re going to be able to take care of two thousand every night. Two thousand people off our street. That’s what people want, and that’s what we can deliver on.”

MAYORAL CANDIDATES

REPORTER EGBUONU: There are five candidates now. All of them have shared the same sentiments in making Albuquerque safer, right? And some are challenging your eight years in office. What’s your take?

MAYOR KELLER:

“I expect a lot of challengers. I would actually expect much more. I think we’re going to have probably a dozen candidates at the end of the day. And we should because these are tough times. And all I’m saying is look at the answers that they can actually deliver on. And I don’t see them saying anything different besides talking about the problem. We’re saying we actually know the answers.

We just need some more time to make sure that we see them through. And we have these proof points to look at. Whether it’s a thousand people, we’re taking care of every night, whether it’s crime numbers finally going down. Or it’s things like the C&M Film Academy finally coming into the rail yards. I think that’s in sharp contrast to everyone who’s continuing to talk about the problem and someone who’s actually offering solutions. That’s what we offer. That’s why I’m running again.”

REGRETS

REPORTER EGBUONU: Do you have any regrets in your eight years of office?

MAYOR KELLER:

Almost every week, I have things I would have done differently.

REPORTER EGBUONU: Really?

MAYOR KELLER:

“Oh yeah, because this job— It’s like, I used to play football, and there was a drill that we do called Bull in the Ring, which is like you stand in the center and everyone’s around you, and they just call your name, and they just hit you from the side and that’s the drill. And that’s what being mayor, that’s what it’s like because every day there’s another challenge.

It could be a particular homicide. It could be windstorms that knock out everyone’s power. And I’m battle-tested. I’ve been through those. And now, especially with what’s happening in D.C. and the turmoil, I think we need somebody who’s ready for that on day one. We do not have the luxury because these are tough times to try someone new or to change directions.

And so, for me, there’s mistakes every day that you learn from. And of course, as everyone says, that’s the key, is how you learn from that. But there are a lot of things I would have done sooner, that’s for sure, including things like our technology and crime fighting. And then a lot of things around, even the consent decree, we’re 99% done with that. But if I had to go back, you know, first time around, of course, there’s all sorts of things you learn. And that’s really important during tough times.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

REPORTER EGBUONU: You’ve had a pretty extensive career. Former member of the New Mexico State Senate, you served as New Mexico State Auditor, you served as Mayor for eight years. If you lose, what’s next for you?

MAYOR KELLER:

I’m raising my family here, and I dedicated essentially my professional career to government and public service way back when I was 27 years old and I was first elected. And so I first ran, I should say. And so that’s not going to change. I’m going to keep trying to find a way to help our community.

For me, it’s a vocational calling. It’s something that even my friends will tell you as early as like fifth grade. I was talking about working in government in one form or another. So, I’ll look at that, but I think for right now, it’s not necessarily by choice for me. I wish I could have gotten everything done in two years, but we need more time to finish the job. And so for me, that’s the calling, and that’s what I’m here for now.

POLICE CHIEF

REPORTER EGBUONU: Is there still possibility of a new police chief still? You’ve answered this in so many ways, but I also feel like the idea is still being toyed with. Is it official that if you are re-elected, you are getting a new police chief?

MAYOR KELLER:

REPORTER EGBUONU: What do you believe is a major issue plaguing New Mexico that needs immediate tension or continuous attention as of now?

MAYOR KELLER:

“In general, of course, it’s crime and homelessness. But unfortunately, during these times, I think there are two flavors of that that have even become more urgent. One is defending our city from being destroyed by some of these things that are happening in Washington. I mean, if they actually cut certain programs, like we won’t have a bus system, we won’t have a police department because they’ll have no crime lab, which is federally funded.”

JUVENILE CRIME

So, all of a sudden, those are becoming more urgent. I think that’s also why we need strong and experienced leadership. The second thing is our juvenile criminal justice system. This is something that no one, frankly, wanted to ever have to admit or deal with because these are young kids. Like what happened this morning, what folks are hearing about is the combination of guns and social media and then a youth system that is incapable of dealing with an 11-year-old who commits murder.

That’s where we’re at. And that’s the country, but it’s also us. And so we’ve got to look at every step in that system and see what we can do to, unfortunately, adjust to these times when you have middle schoolers with weapons. That’s a dangerous combination.

REPORTER EGBUONU: Juvenile crime that’s a serious issue in our state right now. It’s been talked among lawmakers at the session. There’s some bills that have not made it— the Children’s Code, nothing went down with that. But what do you feel? I believe there’s many underlying factors, but just hearing from you, what do you feel it’s going to take for us to get back on track with juvenile crime? Because it just keeps growing and growing and growing. Juveniles specifically, when you check the youth detention center, some of them get checked in and then they’re checked right back out because there’s not enough space, then they’re sent back to their guardians or whomever and then they’re turned back out to the streets to do the same thing over and over again.

MAYOR KELLER:

When we think about this, my only analogy is what we’ve done actually with 9-1-1 response. So for example, we had all these challenges with response times and how we respond and we had the consent decree because we’re using too much force. And my team turned around and we created an entirely different department, the community safety department. And that department has taken 80,000 calls and there’s social workers who are doing that through the 9-1-1 system 24-7.

So that was a brand new idea that no one else in America had done, and we’ve delivered on it, and I think we’ve seen how helpful it is. We have to have a similar type of innovation on the juvenile justice side. The combination of everyone involved, and that’s from schools to families to CYFD to APD and everything in between, it’s just not adequate to deal with the problem with social media, guns, and drugs in middle schools.

So, to me, it’s something that’s more, whether it’s a governor something like that would really put it together but if you’re asking me the question we have to have an innovative response that is different like the current model is totally ill-equipped to deal with what’s happening to our kids and I have a middle schooler in public school so I get it to a certain extent.

I think the system is ill-equipped to deal with what our kids are going through with right now and so we have to look at it starting from that place there’s investment in everything. There’s changes that need to be made. But there’s also a different way to deal with this. And there’s different things we can look at, like case workers in middle schools that are actually more sort of family aides. Violence intervention is the biggest one.

I started this program in West Mesa and we’ve seen recidivism completely drop. We’ve seen grades go up for everyone who’s involved in that. We should have that in every high school. We should probably also have it in every middle school, which is terrible to say. But that’s a third way, that’s a different way. So the very long answer to your question is, we should have violence intervention programs at every school in New Mexico.

PUBLIC FINANCING

REPORTER EGBUONU: Any words you want to part with?

MAYOR KELLER:

“I’m going to be doing public financing again, that’s this process where you have to get all these five-dollar contributions, but it allows you to really be independent, and it allows you, as I have been, whether you like me or not, I think it’s clear that at least I’m my own person and you kind of know what you’re getting and that is in a huge way because we’re publicly financed.

So, I’m doing that process again and it’s something to see what the other candidates do, who gets through that process, who’s privately financed. That’s going to be a dynamic that’s also uniquely Albuquerque. And so we’ll see how that all plays out, but I know the route I’m taking there and it’s going to be public financing again.

REPORTER EGBUONU: Thank you.

Click here to review the entire interview:

https://www.koat.com/article/mayor-tim-keller-albuquerque-reelection/64224388

OTHER CANDIDATES

At least 4 other candidates have announced they are running against Keller for Mayor and they are listed as candidates with the City Clerk. They are:

Mayling Armijo, Democrat and former deputy county manager for Sandoval County. Albuquerque native Mayling Armijo is focused on tackling crime. Her experience consists of working as economic development director for Bernalillo County, the deputy county manager for Sandoval County and with the New Mexico Economic Development Department.
Eddie Varela (72) a Republican retired firefighter. Varela said he wants to restore public safety, rebuild trust in the government and revitalize the economy.
Republican Patrick Sais, (57) is listed on the City Clerks web site as running, but he has yet to formally announce. He ran for election to the New Mexico House of Representatives to represent District 26 in 2024 and lost in the general election on November 5, 2024. He is a small business owner, retired truck driver and school bus driver and he went to Albuquerque High School.
Republican Darren White, the controversial former Bernalillo County Sheriff and former City Chief Public Safety Officer who “retired” from the city after he interfered with an APD investigation of his wife involved in an accident.

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1

THREE OTHER LIKELY CANDIDATES

Confidential sources have confirmed that at least three other candidates will announce their candidacies for Mayor. They are:

Democrat first term, West side Albuquerque City Councilor Louie Sanchez who is a retired APD Officer and is now an insurance salesman. During his term as city councilor, Sanchez has been a consistent critic of Mayor Keller and has often voted with all 4 of the Republicans on City Council. Sanchez is up for election to city council and must giving up his council seat to run for Mayor.
Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez who was fired by President Trump on Valentines Day February 14. Uballez is among more than 20 other U.S. Attorneys who were asked to step down and who were appointed by President Joe Biden. Uballez singular biggest claim to fame is bringing federal charges against law enforcement and the ring leaders involved in the DWI bribery and conspiracy scandal to dismiss hundreds of DWI cases.
Daniel Chavez, President of Parking Company of New Mexico.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The most revealing answers to questions Mayor Keller made in his extended interview with KOAT TV was when he was asked and answered the following questions:

Why a third term? What do you say to voters that supported you in the past but now have doubts? Some expressed you’ve had 8 years to tackle issues at top of mind for New Mexicans, but yet nothing has been done?”

Mayor Keller answered the questions as follows:

“There’s really two reasons [for a third term]:

The first reason is because we’ve been working hard on some decades-old challenges that we’ve had, whether it’s crime or homelessness, even some major projects for our families, and we’re finally breaking through, we’re seeing traction on our crime technology efforts, on the gateway system actually taking thousands of people off the street, and we’ve got to see these through.

The [second] primary reason is to make sure that we keep doing these ideas that are working, now is not the time to change. … And the reason is because we’re finally gaining traction. We’re breaking through after years of investment in the really hard things, whether it’s rebuilding a homelessness system or it’s salvaging a police department from falling apart, we’ve done that hard work. … .”

Keller saying the city is finally “gaining traction” after two terms is simply false. Keller saying his ideas are working is also false. His policies and programs have failed and we are no better off today than 8 years ago. “Gaining traction” with no tangible results is not much of a justification for 4 more years of doing the same thing. Doing the same thing over, and over, and over again expecting different results is the very definition of insanity.

Keller misleads and spins his record of failure on the homeless saying “thousands have been taken off the streets” only as the crisis worsens and as he throws millions of dollars at the crisis each year as other city services suffer.

Keller says falsely he is “salvaging a police department from falling apart.” The truth is APD has already fallen apart, it is as corrupt as it gets under his leadership and it’s a train wreck.

KELLER’S RECORD OF FAILURE

Mayor Tim Keller has been a major failure if not an outright disaster when it comes to city management, policy and addressing the city’s complex problems. His failure as Mayor is the likely reason there are at least 4 candidates running against him. Thus far the candidates running against Keller state the obvious problems the city is facing such as crime is out of control and the homeless have taken over the city. They offer no real solutions. Keller did the exact same thing when he ran for mayor the first time seven years ago, but now he must run on his own record.

In his KOAT TV interview Keller said this:

When I came in, what we saw was a department that was literally falling off a cliff. It was in terrible shape. We had officers leaving in droves.

APD did fall off the cliff under Keller’s leadership. Mayor Keller and Chief Harold Medina have seriously mismanaged the ongoing train wreck known as the Albuquerque Police Department with the department still dangerously understaffed at about 750 to 800 cops despite seven years of increased budgets, salary increases and lucrative bonus pay. Keller has literally thrown money at the problem, yet the department continues to languish. This coming from the Mayor who promised 1,200 cops during his first term. During a recent APD Academy graduation, Keller promised 1,000 cops by the end of the year which is not at all likely given expected retirements.

Keller has spent over $300 million in the last 4 years on homeless shelters, programs, and the city purchasing and remodeling motels for low-income housing. The recent annual Point-In-Time homeless survey count found an 18% increase in the homeless with upwards of 3,000 chronic homeless. It was reported 75% refuse city services. Despite Keller’s spending efforts to assist the unhoused, the city’s homeless numbers continue to spike as the crisis worsens, as the unhoused refuse services and as they take over our streets.

The $300 million spent to help 3,000 to 5,000 homeless with 75% refusing services would have gone a long way to finance community centers, senior citizen centers, police and fire substations, preschool or after school programs, senior citizen programs, and police and fire programs. Keller has allowed the unhoused to proliferate city streets, parks and open space declining to aggressively enforce city and state vagrant laws and make arrests. Keller allowed Coronado Park to become the city’s de facto city sanction homeless encampment before he declared it to be the most dangerous place in the state forgetting it was he who sanctioned it and then he was forced to close it down because of out-of-control violent crime and illicit drug use.

Keller’s “ABQ Housing Forward Plan” to increase affordable housing was nothing more than a politcal rues relying on the city’s housing shortage. His original announced goal was for the city to have 5,000 additional affordable housing units to be added to the market by 2025 but he fell short by 3,000. Keller pushed mandating “safe outdoor spaces” approved exclusively by the planning department for the unhoused in all 9 city council districts over objections of neighborhoods. Keller wanted to double or triple the city’s density by allowing casitas and duplex development in existing neighborhoods by eliminating the rights of appeal by objecting neighborhood associations and adjoining property owners.

Keller’s “Housing Forward Plan” makes gentrification an official city policy that caters to developers and the NAIOP crowd at the expense of neighborhoods and property rights. It will not increase affordable housing. It will allow developers and investors to destroy existing neighborhoods for the sake of making a development buck and increasing density in established neighborhoods and destroying their original character.

Keller also supports recent amendments to the city’s zoning laws know as the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO). Those changes reduce or totally eliminate Neighborhood Associations and adjoining property owners’ rights of standing to appeal developments. In the limited instances where they can appeal a development and they lose the appeal, the changes require them to pay the attorney’s fees of the defending developer when before both sides would assume their own attorney fees and costs.

Keller has also refused to hold Chief Medina accountable for a vehicle crash where Medina negligently plowed into another driver putting the driver in the hospital in critical condition. Medina admitted to violating state law when he failed to have his body camera on during an incident that preceded the crash.

After the crash, Keller called Medina “arguably the most important person right now in these times in our city.” Medina’s appointed crash review board declared the crash as “non avoidable” even after Medina admitted to causing the crash. Medina was given a slap on the wrist with letters of reprimand. The City and Medina have been sued by the other driver and the case is still pending and will likely result in a significant judgement being paid for Medina’s negligent driving and his running of a red light.

Medina claims he will retire in December and Keller claims he will find a new Chief, but don’t believe them. They are tied to the hip. Keller failed in his extended interview with KOAT TV to state in no uncertain terms that he will ask Medina to step aside and replace him with a new chief.

KELLER’S LOW APPROVAL RATINGS

Keller is favored to win a third term despite having a disapproval rating of 40% and an approval rating of 33% as found by an Albuquerque Journal poll. The City’s Citizens Satisfaction survey released in August last year found that 63% of city residents reported do not feel the city is going in the right direction with only 31% say they are hopeful about the direction the city is going.

The same survey found 61% “disagree” and 35% “agree” that “the Albuquerque City Government is responsive to our community needs.” The Citizens Satisfaction survey found that 60% of the city residents “disagree” and 35% “agree” that the APD is doing a good job addressing property crime. The survey also found that 56% of city residents “disagree” and 39% “agree” that APD is doing a good job of addressing violent crime.

KELLER’S POWER OF INCUMBANCY

Notwithstanding his failures, Mayor Tim Keller is heavily favored for election to a unprecedented third consecutive 4 year term. In Keller’s mind, the more the merrier. He has a core constituency of about 25% or more that should get him into the runoff. However, with at least five to seven candidates running, it’s very likely there will be a runoff if none of the candidates secure 50%, but that’s assuming all make the ballot and collect the required 3,000 qualifying nominating signatures. We can expect a brutal battle between highly progressive Democratic Mayor Tim Keller and right wing Republican Darren White who will try and force a runoff.

To complicate matters for Keller’s opponents, Mayor Keller has a built-in advantage called the power of incumbency with an existing campaign organization consisting of his 27 high paid Department Directors who he pays upwards of $150,000 or more that do not want to lose their jobs, the ability to raise large sums of campaign cash as he did as State Auditor, and a campaign manager who resorts to questionable slash and burn tactics to disparage opposition and win at any and all costs.

Keller will easily qualify for public financing of $755,946 as he has done before and then have measured finance committees raise an equivalent amount or more as he has done in his past two runs for Mayor. Keller also has a strangle hold on progressive Democrats who prefer to look the other way when it comes to his mismanagement of city hall and his and Chief Medina’s mismanagement of APD as Keller and Medina refuse to take any responsibility for what has happened under their tenure.

It’s more likely than not that the 2025 municipal election for Mayor will once again be a very low voter turnout for Mayor with less than 20% of those eligible to vote voting, again something that favors Mayor Keller.

FINAL COMMENTARY

Simply put, Albuquerque needs a new Mayor. Keller is completing 8 years as Mayor and he is still struggling with the very issues he dealt with 8 years ago: high violent crime rates, drugs, the homeless and a corrupt APD. Things have not gotten any better under his leadership and some would say we are even worse off today than we were when he was first elected in 2017.

The problem is those running do not have the credentials, or the gravitas to be Mayor and they are more interested in hyperbole and disruption, much like Donald Trump. Darren White is one such candidates who is more mouth than substance.

Eight years of Tim Keller as Mayor has been more than enough. But those who are running against him now will likely be even worse. Some may not even make it on the ballot by not collecting the 3,000 required nominating signatures and more likely will not secure the required 3,000 five dollar donations for public finance. They do not have the gravitas to be Mayor meaning understanding the seriousness of purpose of being Mayor, background, credentials and the importance of manner causing a feeling of respect and trust from others.

Voters can and must do better. The City will do better with a new Mayor but that will happen only if other more qualified candidates who can mount a successful campaign are recruited to run. The business community, civic organizations, neighborhood associations and concerned citizens in general should go out of their way do what they can to recruit qualified candidates to run. Otherwise, we will have another 4 years of disastrous policies, either under Keller or one of the others now running, and we will only have ourselves to blame.

The Exploratory Period for Mayor began on March 3, 2025 and ends on April 19, 2025 where candidates must first make and appointment and register with the city clerk.

The Qualifying Period for candidates for Mayor to collect 3,780 qualifying donations of $5.00 from Albuquerque registered voters for public financing is from April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025.

The Petition Period for candidates for Mayor to collect 3,000 or more signatures from Albuquerque registered voters is from April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025.

The 2025 municipal election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 4 and the offices of Mayor and 5 city council races will also be on the ballot.

Hopefully, better qualified candidates will emerge. __________________________________________

POSTSCRIPT

The links to the City Clerks web pages giving candidate information, candidate calendar, candidate training, candidate information forms and qualifying periods are as follows:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/election-information

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/election-information/voter-information

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/candidate-information

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/candidate-calendar-for-the-2025-regular-local-election

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/publicly-financed-candidates

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/privately-financed-candidates

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/campaign-forms

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/training-videos

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/information-for-measure-finance-committees

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/

https://www.cabq.gov/clerk/ethics-1/board-of-ethics

New Mexico Supreme Court Temporarily Suspends License Of Criminal Defense Attorney Rudy Chavez As He Denies All Involvement In DWI Enterprise Bribery Scheme To Dismiss DWI Cases; Hearing Set For April 7; DWI Enterprise Score Card

Posted on March 19, 2025 by

On March 18, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled 4-1 to immediately but temporarily suspend the law license of Albuquerque DWI criminal defense attorney Rudolph “Rudy” Chavez over allegations linking him to an ongoing federal bribery and conspiracy case to dismiss DWI cases by Albuquerque Police, Bernalillo County Sheriff Deputies and State Police Officers. The court set an April 7 hearing to listen to oral arguments on a petition filed by the Disciplinary Board of the New Mexico Supreme Court seeking his suspension from the practice of law.

Links to relied upon or quoted news sources are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_f3f71a74-0449-11f0-a674-1fa91ae82bad.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/albuquerque-police-department-dwi-investigation/attorney-implicated-in-dwi-dismissal-scheme-has-license-temporarily-suspended/

PETITION FILED

It was on March 6 that the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the New Mexico Supreme Court Disciplinary Board filed a petition with the New Mexico Supreme Court for the suspension of the law license of DWI Criminal Defense Attorney Rudolph “Rudy” Chavez. The petition to the Supreme Court was filed by Anne L. Taylor, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel.

The petition alleges that Chavez was the second attorney involved in the long-running racketeering, bribery and conspiracy DWI Enterprise to dismiss DWI cases in which New Mexico law enforcement officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Office and the New Mexico State Police accepted bribes to ensure drunken driving offenders they arrested were never convicted, and in some instances, never formally charged. The New Mexico Supreme Court required Chavez to respond by March 17 to the petition which is seeking that he be suspended from the practice of law until further notice of the court.

As grounds for Chavez’s suspension, Chief disciplinary counsel Taylor noted that two defendants involved in the scheme, Ricardo Mendez and Honario Alba, mentioned in their plea agreements that a second lawyer was involved in the scheme, and that the attorney had represented a DWI suspect with the initials Z.W. who was arrested by Alba. But the second lawyer was not named in the public court filings. The disciplinary counsel’s petition states that “upon information and belief,” attorney Chavez is the party Mendez and Alba made reference to in their plea agreements.

The Disciplinary Counsels petition to suspend Chavez’s license states in part:

“Given the length and nature of the enterprise and the allegations against [Attorney Rudy Chavez], as well as the hundreds of dismissed DWI criminal cases as a result of the enterprise, the continued practice of law by [Chavez] will result in the substantial probability of harm, loss or damage to the public.”

REPONSE TO PETITION SEEKING SUSPENSION

On March 17, attorney Rudy Chavez filed his response to the petition seeking his suspension from the practice of law. He denies any involvement in the decades-old criminal conspiracy where law enforcement officers took bribes to make sure suspects they arrested for DWI were never convicted.

In his written reply to the New Mexico Supreme Court, Chavez asserts there is no evidence of his involvement in the bribery scheme. Chavez argues the one drunk driving case the Disciplinary Counsel used to conclude he was involved in the public corruption scandal has “zero features” of the scandal. He said two of the key players who mentioned that case to federal investigators gave false statements.

Chavez points out in his written response to the Supreme Court that it does not add up with how the scheme operated. From confessions and pleas agreement filed in the federal case, the officer or attorney Thomas Clear III’s paralegal, Ricardo ‘Rick’ Mendez, would usually contact the defendant. But in his plea agreement, Mendez said in the specific case involving Chavez, attorneys Clear and Chavez still planned to pay the officer to let the driver off the hook. Alba confirmed that plan in his plea agreement.

Chavez wrote in his response “It is unreasonable and untrue to claim that payments were made” regarding an administrative hearing for the driver to keep his license because the driver never requested that hearing. In the scheme itself that’s one of the first proceedings officers were paid not to attend. Chavez said he wasn’t even hired until weeks after that hearing would have taken place.

Chavez’s response states in particular “Upon information and belief, Mr. Clear has denied (Chavez’s) involvement in the subject matter related to the federal prosecution.” Both Chavez and Clear have operated their own law firms over many years , and there were times the attorneys collaborated on cases, court records show.

Chavez argued in his response “It’s curious why these false statements were included in their sworn pleas.” On payment, he said he billed the driver his usual rate of $350 an hour. Regarding the criminal case, the court record shows one delay, the trial. Chavez explained the driver got sick so the judge rescheduled the trial. It was moved more than a month later to January 17, 2024. That was a day before the public learned of this public corruption scandal. On that day, he said he received notice the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the case. A list from the DA showed it’s one of hundreds the office had to dismiss after several police officers, were deemed no longer credible in court by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In one of Chavez’s final points to the court, he stated simply that neither he nor the driver ever paid off attorney Thomas Clear, Ricardo Mendez, or Honoria Alba to miss any hearings. While Mendez’s plea agreement mentions Chavez’s case, that does not appear in Clear’s plea.

SUPREME COURT IMMEDIATLY SUSPENDS LAW LICENSE

The New Mexico Supreme Court has scheduled for April 7 on whether to suspend Chavez’s license and could disbar him permanently. While that’s pending, the New Mexico Supreme Court granted a temporary suspension, effective immediately.

THE DWI ENTERPRISE

More than a year into their investigation, the FBI continues to seek out those who participated in the near 30-year criminal enterprise in which law enforcement officers coordinated with defense attorney Thomas Clear, III and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez to get drunken driving cases thrown out of court by paying bribes to arresting officers.

According to criminal complaints, indictments and plea agreements filed in Federal District Court by the New Mexico United States Attorney and the US Department of Justice, DWI officers would give contact information on motorists they arrested to Mendez and Clear. In exchange, the law enforcement officers would receive cash, gifts and legal services and intentionally fail to show up to required pretrial interviews or scheduled court hearings. They would also withhold evidence in cases where the suspects hired Clear. Clear would then file motions to dismiss the charges, and judges would do so as a sanction against the prosecution.

Clients whose cases were dismissed would typically pay more in legal fees of between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on if the charges were DWI or aggravated DWI. Law enforcement officers would be recruited by Clear and Mendez to participate in the scheme over many years. The conspirators would also profile people as to their ability to pay higher fees. Defense attorneys customarily charge between $3,000 and $6,000 to defend DWI cases depending on if the case is a persons first, second, third or even the fourth offense, misdemeanor or felony DWI. There is no charge if a person qualifies and is defended by the Public Defender’s Office.

DWI ENTERPRISE SCORE CARD

Eighteen law enforcement officers consisting of fourteen APD Officers, three BCSO officers, including the undersheriff, and one NMSP Sergeant, have been implicated, resigned or retired.

Three APD officers and one BCSO Deputy plead guilty as charged with no sentencing agreement for their involvement in the DWI Enterprise and accepting bribes to dismiss DWI cases. Depending on the charges plead to, they face between 70 to 130 years in prison.

Thomas Clear, III and his paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez plead guilty to all federal charges with no agreement as to sentencing with both facing up to 130 years in prison. Clear pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including conspiracy, racketeering, bribery and extortion on February . Clear, 67, is awaiting sentencing and has been disbarred by the state Supreme Court. Clears law offices have been forfeited and he has been disbarred.

Links to quoted and relied upon news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/albuquerque-lawyer-claims-false-statements-implicated-him-in-dwi-scheme/

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-dwi-enterprise-second-attorney/64153072

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_5ccd5a90-0364-11f0-81e5-b7ac58ef1f01.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is only a matter of time before others are implicated and those identified are charged.

There is little doubt that this whole DWI dismissal bribery scandal has shaken the public’s faith in our criminal justice system to the core with law enforcement officers from the state’s three largest law enforcement agencies of APD, BCSO and NMSP being involved. The only way that any semblance of faith will be restored and for people to begin trusting APD and law enforcement in general again is if all the police officers and the lawyers involved in this scandal are held accountable for what they have done.