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NM Private Investigator Admits Bribery To Get DUIs Dismissed

Crime and Justice News

A private investigator implicated in a corruption scandal that rocked New Mexico’s law enforcement community for over a decade was the first to plead guilty to federal charges that include racketeering and bribery. Ricardo Mendez took part in a yearslong scheme between a law firm he worked for that specialized in defending those charged with driving while intoxicated and the Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Mendez admitted that since 2008 he had been offering gifts and thousands of dollars in bribes to officers in exchange for having his clients’ cases dismissed, the Associated Press reports. “I admit that, since at least 2008, this DWI scheme I participated in constituted an enterprise (the DWI Enterprise) that engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity that included multiple acts of bribery, chargeable under New Mexico state law, as well as multiple acts of interference commerce by extortion,” Mendez wrote in his plea. Dubbed the Driving While Intoxicated Enterprise, the scheme would allow offenders who drove while intoxicated to get off scot-free, Mendez admitted.


Clients would pay Mendez or his associate an attorney retainer fee in cash. Then Mendez would pay officers in cash — $5,000 or more — or in the form of gifts or legal services to not appear in court as a necessary witness to the driving incident, resulting in the dismissal of the case. Officers started referring DWI cases to Mendez and his associate with the ask of increased payments. “I admit that when drivers avoid criminal culpability for DWI, they become more likely to drive while intoxicated in the future, and, the more often that a person drives while intoxicated, the more likely they are to have an accident,” Mendez said in his plea. According to documents obtained by the Albuquerque Journal, the probe began following a stop by one of the officers in August 2023. He allegedly told the driver that he should contact a specific attorney, who, if hired, would make sure the police department would not file a case in court. Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina vowed to conduct an internal investigation last February. Since then, over a dozen officers have resigned, been placed on administrative leave, been terminated or been temporarily reassigned. The Albuquerque Police Department has made administrative changes, including the creation of a DWI unit handbook. Two more officers were placed on administrative leave Friday as apart of the federal investigation. A deputy from Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office was placed on administrative leave Thursday.


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