On January 20, in a truly shocking guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen in Albuquerque, former Albuquerque Police Lieutenant Justin Hunt admitted that he and conspirators in the bribery scheme to dismiss DWI cases would get “targets” intoxicated so they could later pull them over to charge them with drunken driving. One “target” was a client of former attorney Thomas Clear III who was the mastermind of the DWI dismissal scheme that lasted for decades.

In his guilty plea hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen, Justin Hunt plead guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right.” Hunt is  now facing  a maximum of 57 months in prison. He was originally facing 20 years in prison.

TAKING TARGET TO STRIP CLUB ON BIRTHDAY TO GET DRUNK AND MAKE DWI ARREST

According to Hunt’s guilty plea agreement, attorney Thomas Clear III’s private investigator  Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, and others would go out drinking with a person. Once that person had become drunk, Hunt would be notified of where the person was driving, and Hunt would pull them over for DWI. That person would then be told that  they could hire and pay Clear as their attorney and he would get  the charges dismissed.

Hunt admits in his plea agreement that in May 2014, Mendez took one of Clear’s clients to a strip club for the client’s birthday. Mendez then bought alcohol for the client at the strip club.  According to Hunt’s Plea Agreement , the client drank “a large amount of alcohol,” and when they went to leave the strip club, Mendez told Hunt the vehicle make and where it would be. Hunt pulled the client over and arrested them for DWI. When the client hired Clear, Hunt received wheels, tires, and a lift kit. He then “intentionally failed to appear at required criminal settings and the MVD hearing,” which resulted in the case being dismissed by the court.

HUNT’S SPECIFIC ADMISIONS IN PLEA AGREEMENT

In his guilty plea agreement, Hunt said DWI offenders were “both aware and unaware of the bribery scheme” and said “The illegal conduct — that being me receiving benefits or payments from CLEAR and MENDEZ — would occur after I conducted the otherwise legitimate DWI arrest.”

In his guilty plea agreement, Hunt admits that  “Clear, Mendez and I also developed another method of operating the scheme.” He states the scheme  was when Mendez and other conspirators  would orchestrate a  traffic stop “thereby allowing me to conduct the DWI arrest, with the expectation that I would then be paid or receive a benefit to not appear [in court] as required.”

Under the scheme, Mendez and other co-conspirators would go out drinking with a particular “target.” Hunt admitted this:

“Once that target had consumed alcohol and was heavily intoxicated, I would receive notification of where the target was driving. I would then conduct a traffic stop on the target’s vehicle and arrest them for DWI.” 

After the arrest, and if the suspect hired Clear, he and others in the conspiracy would coordinate pretrial hearings and MVD hearings to ensure that Hunt would fail to appear. The state criminal charges would be dismissed, no fines, fees or interlock devices would be required, and the offender’s driver’s license would not be revoked.

Hunt’s plea agreement outlines a specific incident where a target was taken out on his birthday to a strip club to get him drunk.  Hunt states in his plea agreement that in May 2014, Mendez and others took one of Clear’s clients out drinking for their birthday.  Ther person was  identified in the plea agreement as C.F. to protect privacy.  Mendez, C.F. and the others ended up at a strip club where Mendez purchased alcohol for C.F.

Justin Hunt admits this in his plea agreement:

“Once C.F. was preparing to drive after consuming a large amount of alcohol, Mendez alerted me to when C.F. would be leaving the strip club, what vehicle C.F. would be driving, and where C.F.’s vehicle would be. After C.F. drove out of the strip club parking lot, I conducted a traffic stop on C.F.’s vehicle [with Mendez and others in the vehicle].”

Hunt admits he then arrested C.F. and charged him with DWI and that  C.F. later  hired Clear to defend him in the case. Clear in his defense to get the  C.F.’s charges dismissed cited Hunt’s failure to appear as grounds for dismissal.  The judge dismissed the DWI case. Hunt admits he received a bribe  from Clear and  Mendez for his role in the arrest that included free legal help and “wheels, tires and lift kit for my Jeep.” Hunt admits this in his plea agreement:

“In my police report, I purposefully omitted the information I received from Mendez prior to the stop and purposefully omitted that Mendez was in the vehicle with C.F. at the time of the stop. “

Hunt admits  that after he left the DWI unit, he discussed non-public Internal Affairs and APD information with Mendez, including for example when then-APD officer Honorio Alba became the subject of a complaint sent to the city’s Civilian Police Oversight Agency relating to Alba’s handling of a DWI case in November 2023. Hunt admits this:

“I discussed this complaint with Mendez in an attempt to assist Alba from having adverse action taken against him. ”

It is not clear what, if any, action Mendez took in response. But the complaint about Alba, after then APD Chief Harold Medina learned of it, helped fuel the Federal Bureau Investigation into the scheme.

After the January 20^th hearing, Justin Hunt  was released on conditions pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

STATEMENT FROM HUNT’S ATTORNEY

Hunt’s attorney, Ryan Villa, gave the following statement after the guilty plea was announced:

“Justin Hunt served the community in APD for 24 years. The conduct he took responsibility for today, represents a tiny fraction of the work he did for the community, but he recognizes his conduct was wrong and he believes in personal accountability. As an officer, he helped countless crime victims and other community members who called the police for help. He makes no excuses for the conduct he admitted to in his plea agreement, but he is proud of the rest of his service in protecting our community. He looks forward to moving past this case and repairing the wrong that his conduct caused.“

Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/former-apd-supervisor-admits-to-helping-set-up-drivers-for-dwi-arrests/2964691

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-police-dwi-guilty-plea-justin-hunt/70066979

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/former-apd-lieutenant-pleads-guilty-in-dwi-deception-scandal/

JUSTIN HUNT’S APD CAREER

On January 20, KRQE News 13 reported in part on Justin Hunt’s APD career as follows:

Former Albuquerque Police Lieutenant Justin Hunt worked as a DWI officer from 2011 to 2014.  Hunt joined APD when he was  18 years old and rose through the ranks to Lieutenant.  He  served as the Southeast Area Commander. His personnel files show that the state certified him to teach DWI courses from 2012 to 2015. That was during his time in APD’s DWI Unit, which he served in from 2011 to 2015.

On February 7, 2024  Hunt resigned from APD after he was implicated in the DWI dismissal  scandal with a three-sentence email thanking his superiors and letting them know that he was resigning.  APD had placed Hunt on administrative leave one week prior to his resignation. APD said he chose to quit rather than participate in the Internal Affairs investigation into his role in the  DWI Dismissal scandal.

 Hunt worked with Attorney Clear and his paralegal Mendez, taking bribes to get DWI cases dismissed or never file them. According to court records reviewed by KRQE News 13, Hunt  had cases with DWI Defense  Attorney  Thomas Clear from 2000, his first year on the job, to 2015. During that time, a 15-year time frame, 20 of their 30 cases together were dismissed which is a  two-thirds dismissal rate.

Court records also reveal that Clear represented Hunt  in two different cases: his divorce in 2014 and a case in 2016 where Hunt’s ex-wife’s family reported to his fellow APD officers that they believed Hunt caused  bruising to his then four-year-old son.

KRQE News 13 previously shared body camera footage in KRQE Investigation, in which a KRQE crew raised questions about why, when the police report called it a “simple assault”, no charges were filed. The Bernalillo County District Attorney told KRQE News 13 that “witnesses were no long willing to cooperate, so the DA at the time closed the case.”

So what about an Internal Affairs investigation by APD? Then APD administration confirmed that the Internal Affairs (IA)  Unit did “not open an investigation into the allegations”, adding “there’s no excuse for that failure.” Had the IA investigation happened, Hunt’s law enforcement certification could have been revoked.

Instead, throughout the next eight years, Hunt received promotions to Sergeant and then Lieutenant. Hunt’s personnel file includes a number of commendations for his work, even some from his time as a DWI officer. He worked in the unit alongside several officers that APD has already connected to the scheme, including Joshua Moñtano and Honorio Alba Jr., who pleaded guilty to federal charges for their involvement.

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

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/albuquerque-police-department-dwi-investigation/former-apd-lieutenants-plea-deal-reveals-how-dwi-enterprise-targeted-potential-drunk-drivers/

HOW DWI ENTERPRISE WORKED

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, the DWI Enterprise scheme was very simple and straight forward and it went on for upwards of 3 decades. Arresting officers would give contact information on motorists they arrested on DWI charges to Private Investigator Carlos Mendez who worked for defense attorney Thomas Clear or Clear himself. In exchange, the officers would receive cash, gifts and legal services and intentionally fail to show up to required pretrial interviews, court hearings. The officers  would also withhold evidence in cases where the suspects hired Clear. Clear would then file motions to dismiss the charges, and judges had no choice but to dismiss the cases for “lack of prosecution” 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, aggravated DWI other charges in addition to 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 fourth offense, misdemeanor or felony DWI. There is no charge if a defendant  qualifies and is defended by the Public Defender’s Office.

DWI DISMISSAL SCANDAL SCORE CARD

Justin Hunt is the 10^th  law enforcement officer to plead guilty to federal charges in the DWI dismissal scandal. Additionally, two Albuquerque defense attorneys, and one private investigator have plead guilty in the ongoing federal investigation into a nearly 30-year conspiracy in which a group of DWI officers received cash, free legal services and other benefits for helping get DWI cases dismissed.

NINE  APD COPS AND ONE BERNALILLO COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF PLEAD GUILTY AS CHARGED

Nine APD officers and one Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy have plead guilty to federal charges of taking bribes. Those former law enforcement officers are:

1. 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.)
2. On February 7, 2025 former APD Officer Joshua Montaño plead guilty as charge to  racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy.(Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
3. On February 12, 2025 former APD Officer Neill Elsman plead guilty as charged  to 5 counts of  conspiracy, extortion, and bribery.  ( February 12, 2025.)
4. On March 24, 2025 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.
5. On April 29, 2025 former APD Police Officer Harvey Johnson plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit “Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color Of Official Right”. He is facing 20 years in jail.
6. On May 27, 2025 former APD Officer Lucas Perez plead guilty to “conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.” It was on March 24, 2024 that APD announced it had placed Lucas Perez  on leave as a part of its internal investigation into its DWI unit and the federal investigation. Perez had been with the department since 2016 and served in the DWI unit to become the unit sergeant.
7. On June 23, 2025 former APD Officer Louis Henckel plead guilty in federal court, admitting to his role in the conspiracy with criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear and his employee  Ricardo Mendez to accept bribes to get DWI cases dismissed. Henckel plead guilty to one count of “conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.” The maximum penalty is up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
8. On December 15, 2025, retired APD Officer Timothy McCarson  plead guilty to one count of “conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.”
9.  On February 25, 2025,  BCSO DeputyJeff 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.)
10. On January 20, 2026, former APD Lieutenant Justin Hunt plead guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right.”

TWO RING LEADERS PLEAD GUILTY AS CHARGED

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

On January 24, Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, 53, the private 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. Mendez is facing 110 years in prison on the charges. On April 29  Ricardo “Rick” Mendez was scheduled to be sentenced connection with the DWI scandal. In a surprise move on the day of his sentencing it was simply vacated by the federal court. The  likely reason for the delay is that Mendez is providing new information about the DWI scandal and identifying more suspects to be charge.

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 has been permanently disbarred from the practice of law by the New Mexico Supreme Court and the Federal Court. A forfeiture action against a home Clear used as his offices has been taken as an asset and as part of the racketeering charge.

DEFENSE ATTORNEY RUDOLPH “RUDY” CHAVEZ PLEADS GUILTY

On July 10, 2025, private criminal defense attorney Rudolph “Rudy” Chavez plead guilty to a federal extortion charge admitting he bribed an Albuquerque police officer in 2023 to help get his  client’s drunken driving case dismissed. Chavez  plead guilty to one count each of interference with commerce by extortion and lying to FBI agents investigating the payoff in March 2024.

In his plea agreement,  Chavez admits he contacted Clear’s assistant Recardo “Rick” Mendez after he was hired by his client who had been arrested in April 2023 by Albuquerque Police Department DWI officer Honorio Alba Jr. Through Mendez, Chavez paid Alba to intentionally not appear in court on the DWI case.  Chavez admits this in his plea agreement:

“I admit that when coordinating the scheme, I knew that Alba was a necessary witness and because Alba planned to fail to appear, I knew that the case and proceedings would likely be dismissed.”

Chavez states in his plea agreement he agreed to be interviewed by FBI agents on March 26, 2024. During his FBI interview, Chavez was warned of the potential criminal consequences of lying to federal law enforcement officers. During his interview with  FBI agents, Chavez denied knowing Alba was not going to appear in court.

In his federal plea agreement, Chavez admits he  lied to  FBI agents and admits he had phone calls with Mendez ahead of the court hearings to ensure Alba would not attend. Chavez  admits  in his plea he spoke on the phone with Mendez after the dismissal “during which I thanked him and asked him to thank Alba.”

16 APD OFFICERS IMPLICATED, CHARGED OR PLEAD GUILTY

A total of 16 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 16 officers who have resigned, placed on leave, who have been terminated, retired, charged or plead guilty are:

1. On February 7, 2024 Justin Hunt, who started at APD in 2000, resigned. On January 20, 2026 Hunt plead guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right.”
2. 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.)
3. On March 13, 2024, Harvey Johnson, who started at APD in 2014, resigned.
4. 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  plead 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.
5. 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.)
6. On May 2, 2024 Daren DeAguero, who started with APD in 2009, resigned.
7. On May 9, 2024, Matthew Trahan was placed on paid leave as the investigation played out. Trahan has been with APD since 2006, was with the DWI unit from 2014-16 and recently worked as a detective.
8. 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, 2025 Elsman plead guilty as charged  to 5  counts of  conspiracy, extortion, and bribery. (Article: February 12, 2025.)
9. 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.
10. On October 16, 2024 Deputy Commander Gustavo Gomez placed on paid administrative leave. Gomez was with the DWI unit from 2010 to 2013.
11. On January 24, 2025 APD announced they placed officers Matthew Chavez on leave.
12. 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.
13. 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 December 15, 2025, McCarson plead guilty to one count of “conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.”
14. On May 12, former APD officer Steve Hindi was placed on the Giglio list of officers whose credibility is compromised after being implicated in the scandal.
15. On March 24, 2024the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announce it  has  placed 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. On May 27,2025 Lucas Perez plead guilty to conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.
16. On June 26, 2025 it was reported that former APD Officer Daniel Carr who served with APD for nearly 20 years and who then became a lateral hire and went to work for the Durango Police Department, became the 16th former APD officer to join the ranks of officers listed on the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office ‘Giglio list‘ of officers who are no longer trusted witnesses in court. He was implicated in the DWI bribery and conspiracy case to dismiss cases. Carr immediately resigned from the Durango Police Department after the Department was notified of the action. Carr has not been charged with a crime.

THREE BERNALILLO COUNTY SHERRIFF DEPUTIES IMPLICATED

The names and dates of the 3 BCSO officers who have resigned or placed on leave by Sherriff John Allen or who have plead guilty to charges are:

1. 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.
2. On February 24, 2025, BCSO Undersheriff Johann Jareno was asked to resign by  Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen.
3. March 7^th, BCSO Deputy Jeffry Bartram was placed on leave on after early findings that he may have been involved in the scheme. He has been with BCSO since February 2010 and was on the BCSO DWI Unit from July 2014 to August 2020.

ONE MEXICO STATE POLICE OFFICER

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.  Sgt. Toby LaFave was placed on paid leave as the agency did  its own internal investigation into allegations. LaFave was featured for years in state ENDWI campaigns and was referred to as the DWI King. LaFave was officially fired for his alleged role in November, but he has not yet been criminally charged.

LaFave, who joined State Police in 2012, said in an online public service promotion 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.

The link to a quoted or relied upon news sources are here:

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

NO AGREEMENTS AS TO SENTENCINGS, NO ONE SENTENCED

Review of all plea agreements reveals there are no agreements as to sentencing, meaning it will be up to the judge assigned who will decide the sentences of each defendant. A pre-sentence report will be prepared by sentencing, probation and parole authorities for each defendant, and a recommendation will be made as to sentencing to the judge.

Depending on the actual number of charges plead to by each defendant, they could be facing jail sentences between 5 years and 20 years and as much as130 years in federal prison and could face fines  as low as $20,000 or in excess of $1 million dollars.

To date, not a single  defendant who has  plead guilty has been sentenced  which has led to wide ranging speculation as to what is going on with the case. Speculation includes that the investigation has hit problems that make it impossible to complete the investigations of individuals or that other evidence still needs to be gathered against much larger targets in the three agencies that have been implicated.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

There is absolutely no doubt that APD’s reputation has been trashed to a major extent because of this scandal. APD is viewed by many as again having just another bastion of “dirty and corrupt cops” who have brought dishonor to their department and their badge and to the department’s professed values of “Pride, Integrity, Fairness and Respect”.  There is little doubt that this whole DWI dismissal bribery scandal has shaken the public’s faith in our criminal justice system and APD to its core especially with the involvement of the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office BCSO and New Mexico State Police Officers.

The only way that any semblance of faith can be restored and for people to begin trusting APD and law enforcement in general again is if all the police officers involved in this scandal are held accountable and the lawyers involved are held accountable. That will only happen with aggressive prosecutions, convictions, and lengthy prison sentences for the law enforcement officers and attorneys involved in the “DWI Enterprise” scheme. Justice will not be served until all are charged and sentenced. The biggest question that remains to be answered is when will sentences be imposed?