Ninth Albuquerque officer placed on leave amidst DWI corruption investigation

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read
1

May 9—A ninth Albuquerque officer has been placed on leave amid an ongoing probe into alleged DWI corruption.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said officer Matthew Trahan is on paid administrative leave as parallel investigations by the FBI and APD delve into allegations that DWI officers worked with a local attorney to get drunken driving cases dismissed in exchange for money and other favors.

Gallegos said Trahan had been with APD since 2006 and served on the DWI unit from 2014 to 2016.

Trahan made news in 2016 when he was accused of beating and kicking his fiancée, who later denied he had hit her and said she "hit a shoe rack with her face," according to court records. The case was dismissed after Trahan completed a court-diversion program.

Trahan is only the most recent officer to be placed on leave.

Officers Daren DeAguero, Honorio Alba Jr., Joshua Montaño, Nelson Ortiz, Harvey Johnson and Lt. Justin Hunt all resigned from the department after being placed on leave over the past few months.

All six resigned before they were supposed to be interviewed as part of the Internal Affairs investigation.

Another two APD personnel, Internal Affairs Cmdr. Mark Landavazo and an IA lieutenant, were also placed on leave and temporarily reassigned, respectively, as both are being investigated amid APD's internal investigation.

The DWI allegations came to light after FBI agents searched the homes of officers Johnson and Alba, the law office of defense attorney Thomas Clear III and the home of Clear's paralegal, Ricardo Mendez, in January.

No one has been charged and the search warrants remain sealed, but U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez in January reported in a letter to Medina that the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI focuses on alleged wrongdoing by "certain" APD officers and others.

Because the officers' credibility could potentially be questioned, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman's office dismissed nearly 200 DWI cases that they had filed and were pending at the time of the FBI searches.