‘Justice cannot be bought’: What we know about the DWI scandal
By Faith Egbuonu, T.J. Wilham
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — The DWI scandal, which now involves the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police, has rocked New Mexico’s criminal justice system and will likely continue to expand.
On Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, KOAT spoke with United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico Alexander M.M. Uballez on the latest developments in the DWI investigation.
“One of the really interesting twists in this for me is the thought that there might have been people who are not guilty, who are demonstrably, for whatever reason, either a constitutional violation in their investigation or not guilty at all because it was never tested by the court system, because discovery was never turned over,” Uballez told KOAT.
“It was never litigated in front of a court of law, never given to a jury to decide. Things like this, that skip the criminal justice system, draw it all into question. That is the tragedy of a scheme like this and the importance of bringing it to an end,” Uballez added.
On Feb. 7, 2025, former APD officers Joshua Montaño and Honorio Alba Jr. pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection to the DWI investigation in U.S. District Court.
Montaño and Alba plead guilty to:
Conspiracy (two counts) Bribery (five counts) Extortion (one count)
According to court records, Alba’s sentencing date is set for May 13, 2025. Montaño’s sentencing date is set for May 8, 2025.
How big of players were Montaño and Alba?
U.S. Attorney Alex M.M. Uballez: The scope of their involvement is broad, as we have outlined. I think a lot of your work here has shown, if you look back at the court cases, there are prolific during the time period that they were involved, but the time period is the recent time period, of course, we allege just goes back and the plea shows that this went back to at least 2008, which means there are people who were before them who laid the groundwork and maybe may have been just as prolific.
According to the federal indictment, officers and deputies from APD, BCSO and NMSP worked alongside attorney Thomas Clear III and his private investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, 53, in a “DWI Enterprise” to dismiss cases involving drivers suspected of DWI in exchange for money.
“What we describe as an intergenerational development of a scheme. Over more than 15 years, involving many officers and an entire unit within APD. So, if you go back and look at the people who were involved both throughout that time period and that unit itself, I think that would give you a good sense of the number of people that could be involved in this criminal— in the scope of this criminal conduct,” Uballez said.
On Friday, Jan. 24, Mendez pleaded guilty in federal court to eight charges, including conspiracy. He is the first to plead guilty since the corruption scandal for nearly two decades came to light on Jan. 18, 2024, through Target 7 Investigations. According to Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, the case possibly goes years further to 2003.
“The 2008 number comes in the pleadings from [Ricardo] Mendez saying that’s when he first got involved in the scheme. The 2007 number comes from the civil pleading that we filed against [Thomas] Clear and this property that alleges it goes back 2007,” Uballez confirmed.
“We are going as far back as we can to hold as many people accountable. So, not just the people who did it now, but the people who started it, the people who perpetuated it, the people who were involved in the beginning and the end,” Uballez said.
According to the New Mexico Regulations and Licensing Department, Mendez does not hold a license with the Private Investigations Advisory Board. Additionally, their records indicate there isn’t an individual with the name Ricardo “Rick” Mendez who has held a license with the board in the past.
Mendez pleads guilty to: Racketeering Bribery of an agent receiving federal funds Aiding and Abetting Interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right and conspiracy
Mendez’s Sentencing
Date: April 29, 2025 Time: 3 p.m. Courthouse: 420 Mimbres Courtroom, District Judge David H. Urias
Statute of Limitations regarding the case
Uballez: Most federal crimes — Most of the ones that we secured convictions on in these agreements are five years. That’s the normal federal statute limitation for U.S. felonies. The Rico reaches back. And so, you’ll see the RICO charge that the Rico conspiracy charge is one that allows us to access conduct back to the beginning.
RICO charges, also known as the ‘Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act,’ are criminal charges that stem from racketeering activity, which is a pattern of illegal business practices.
Former law enforcement officers connected to the DWI Enterprise
As of Feb. 11, 2025, there are 14 former law enforcement officers connected to the case. APD had placed 12 former DWI officers on leave as part of its investigation. Ten of those officers have resigned, retired or been terminated.
According to APD, Tim McCarson retired in 2022 but is now implicated. He retired before the investigation came to light. BCSO Sheriff John Allen confirms that he has been in direct contact with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding the involvement of a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy in the ongoing federal investigation into DWI investigation.
According to BCSO, the deputy in question, identified as Jeff Hammerel, was immediately placed on administrative leave on Thursday, Jan. 23.
U.S. Attorney/FBI files court documents to seize Attorney Thomas Clear’s property
As of Feb. 11, 2025, Clear has not been charged with a crime in connection with the DWI Enterprise. On Friday, Feb. 07, 2025, the FBI filed documents to seize Clear’s property. According to investigators, Clear used his criminal defense law firm to conduct, conceal and otherwise assist himself, other members and associates of the DWI Enterprise in their criminal activities.
According to the court documents, Clear also appeared at the criminal and administrative proceedings for cases that were part of the scheme and moved to dismiss the proceedings based on the Officer Members’ intentional failures to appear at required PTI (pretrial interviews), MVD hearings and/or trials (collectively referred to as “settings”).
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