Man pleads guilty to perjury in ABQ sex trafficking case

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Mar. 31—An alleged sex trafficker — accused of having sex with a teenager — learned the hard way not to lie on the stand.

John Dompierre pleaded guilty to perjury on Monday and is facing five years in prison.

The 58-year-old falsely testified in November that a condition made him "incapable of sexual activity" and he "could not have committed the crimes charged," according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court.

Dompierre said in his plea deal "while it is true" that he suffers from the condition, it did not make him incapable of sexual activity and he was even on medication to treat it.

His attorney did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

If a federal judge accepts the plea deal, the U.S. Attorney's Office will file a motion to dismiss the charges from the sex trafficking case, which ended in a hung jury the first time around.

Court records state Dompierre, who lives in Arizona, is a longtime veteran who worked for Department of Veteran's Affairs after 23 years of serving in the Air Force.

At the time of his trial, Dompierre was facing federal charges of conspiracy and one count of transportation for illegal sexual activity in a 2018 case. Dompierre was one of several people charged in a nationwide ring, based in Albuquerque, that trafficked adult and teenage girls using online sites such as Backpage.

During his trial, according to court records, federal prosecutors asserted Dompierre had transported women for sex trafficking and also had sex with a teenage girl. Prosecutors called Dompierre's testimony of why he was not guilty an "absurd defense."

The case against Dompierre ended in a mistrial when they could not reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors split 11 to one to convict.

But according to court records, it was later revealed Dompierre had not been truthful on the stand and his attorneys used his lies in his defense.

Dompierre wrote in his plea agreement: "I knew it was false."

"My false statements were material to the criminal trial because they formed the substantial basis for my defense: that I could not have formed the necessary intent due to the claimed effects of my medical condition, which I falsely claimed was unmedicated during the charged time period," he said in the plea deal.

Since his plea, Dompierre has requested his conditions of release — which include a GPS monitor — be modified to allow him unsupervised visits with his grandchildren.