Albuquerque police lieutenant retires amidst corruption probe

An Albuquerque police lieutenant placed on leave in a sprawling DWI corruption probe decided to retire before meeting with detectives on the matter.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Lt. Kyle Curtis submitted his retirement paperwork Monday, a day before he was scheduled to speak with APD’s internal task force. Curtis joined APD in 2000 and formerly worked on the DWI Unit.

Curtis and another lieutenant had been placed on leave Friday, hours after a paralegal took a plea deal on racketeering charges in the FBI’s criminal case.

In the plea agreement, Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, 53, admitted that since 2008 he and attorney Thomas Clear III had paid off law enforcement officers from APD, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police to let DWI cases get dismissed.

Neither Clear nor any law enforcement officers have been charged in the criminal case. APD has placed 12 officers on leave and 10 have since resigned, retired or been fired. BCSO placed one deputy on leave after Mendez’s plea agreement went public.

New Mexico State Police said it has not uncovered any such activity among its ranks.

State Police Chief Troy Weisler said Tuesday, in a statement, “The behavior outlined in the recently released federal documents is disgusting and has no place in law enforcement.”

“If we determine members of the State Police were involved, they will be dealt with swiftly and decisively,” he said. “This is an evolving situation, and we will evaluate new information as it comes in; however, at this time, we have no evidence to believe that our officers are involved. We will continue to conduct internal audits and reviews as well as cooperate fully with the FBI as they carry out their investigation.”

The FBI’s investigation first came to light in January 2024 after agents raided Clear’s office, Mendez’s home and the homes of several current and former APD DWI officers.

APD launched its own internal probe and, in the past year, placed officers Harvey Johnson, Honorio Alba Jr., Joshua Montaño, Nelson Ortiz, Daren DeAguero, Neill Elsman and Lt. Justin Hunt on leave. All seven resigned before they were supposed to be interviewed as part of the Internal Affairs investigation.

APD Cmdr. Mark Landavazo was also placed on leave, and eventually fired, for policy violations found in a separate investigation spurred by APD’s internal probe into the case.

In the fallout of the investigation and because the officers’ credibility potentially could be questioned, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman’s office dismissed more than 200 DWI cases that had been filed and were pending at the time of the FBI searches.

On Tuesday, Gallegos said Lt. Curtis was added to 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office’s Brady-Giglio disclosure list, “which raises concerns about their credibility if they testify in court.”