The FBI discusses the future of the DWI scandal, while another APD officer takes a plea

Albuquerque, NM (KRQE) – A sixth a former member of the law enforcement authorities has accepted a plea for bribes to help a law firm, to have referred to their clients drunk driving boxes in what Feds referred to as “DWI companies”. In the further course of the investigation, the FBI expects more requests.

Harvey Johnson known
Trade by blackmail under color of the official right on Tuesday. According to the Federal Court of Justice, Johnson admitted to participating in the DWI company from February 18, 2023 to January 18, 2024.

Clock: DWI cases Albuquerque -officers and paralegal disappear

The government said that the program had been running for 30 years and was now cited at the now dispatcher Thomas Clear III and his Paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, who mainly worked with members of the law enforcement authorities in the DWI department of APD.

Johnson admitted that he worked with Mendez to carry out drunk accused to clarify and accept cash because he did not appear to the criminal and administrative DWI hearings and was made possible for the perpetrator. The former officer also said that he would record alleged driver licenses of the drunk driver suspects or paper stuff so that Mendez could contact the driver.

Mendez and Clear paid typically paid leaders in cash, and in some cases, according to the Federal Court, documents gave them the legal services for their family members, hotel rooms, meals and other gifts. In Johnson's case, he expressly mentioned that Clear and Mendez gave him non-cash rewards such as Christmas gifts and baby gifts.

Johnson came to APD in 2014 and was commissioned in the DWI unit of APD in 2021. He resigned in 2024 just one day before he was interviewed by APD's internal affairs about his alleged participation in the program.

The public prosecutor immediately considered him a non -harmful witness, which means that his word as a police officer could no longer be familiar in court. As a result, more than two dozen of his upcoming DWI cases were rejected.

The news of the program of the program was open in January 2024 when federal agents fell through the houses of police officers from Albuquerque, including Johnson's in Los Lunas, and Clear's Home Office in Albuquerque.

The responsible FBI -Special agent Raul Bujanda told Krqe that the fact that the system was passed on over generations of officers surprised him, but he did not say at what point his agency was learned and began to investigate.

“So here, I think they really had people who got into the job who wanted to do the right thing. And they saw some things that were not done correctly, like this scandal we are talking about, but instead of reporting it, they only decided to be part of it because they accepted it,” said FBI Special Agent in Lad Raul, Raul Bujanda,.

Other important actors in the program are additional members of the APD, the Sheriff office of the Bernalillo County, and the New Mexico State Police. Bujanda said that the investigation of the system and the possible suspect was not yet over.

“We're not finished yet. It is an ongoing examination. I would like to be able to say that I would really do it, and it is sincere as if I really say that this was over.

2 police officers from Albuquerque, who resigned in the middle of the DWI unit scandal, now worked for CYFD

Johnson and the former APD officer Nelson Ortiz worked on the CyfD after they had resigned from the department. Both have completed pleading offers since then, and CyfD said they were no longer employed in the department.

Take a look at the plea offers in the DWI scandal from New Mexico

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