Attorney linked to DWI bribery case agrees to license suspension

Albuquerque attorney Rudolph Chavez opted to forgo a public hearing Monday on allegations by a state disciplinary board that alleged his involvement in the DWI bribery and extortion conspiracy under investigation by federal authorities.

Instead, Chavez accepted an indefinite suspension of his license to practice law, representing the second lawyer linked to the scheme to face disciplinary action by the state Supreme Court. He has not been criminally charged or mentioned by name in publicly-filed federal case documents.

Court records show Chavez agreed to the suspension without admitting any of the allegations raised in federal court plea agreements signed earlier this year by two of the key participants — former Albuquerque Police Department DWI officer Honorio Alba, Jr., and private investigator Ricardo Mendez, who ran the day-to-day operations of what federal prosecutors have called the illicit DWI Enterprise.

Both men have pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges related to the scheme in which former Albuquerque DWI attorney Thomas Clear III and Mendez paid off a group of police and sheriff’s officers to ensure DWI suspects the officers arrested were never formally charged or convicted. The law enforcement officers involved would fail to appear for pretrial interviews or hearings, or would withhold evidence, which in turn would prompt Clear to seek a dismissal of the case in court.

Alba and Mendez’s plea agreements mention a second lawyer as “co-conspirator” in the scheme, and both cited a particular criminal case in April 2023 which court records show Chavez was retained by the DWI suspect.

Both Alba and Mendez said that Alba accepted a payment in exchange for ensuring that Chavez’s client would avoid criminal charges and administrative penalties. Court records show the case had various continuances until it was dismissed by prosecutors Jan. 17, 2024. The dismissal came a day before FBI agents executed multiple search warrants in the case, including on Clear’s Albuquerque law office.

The petition seeking Chavez’s suspension from practicing law was filed by Anne L. Taylor, the chief disciplinary counsel for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the New Mexico Supreme Court Disciplinary Board. The board oversees investigations of misconduct by attorneys and the unauthorized practice of law.

“Given the length and nature of the enterprise and the allegations against (Chavez), as well as the hundreds of dismissed DWI criminal cases as a result of the enterprise, the continued practice of law by (Chavez) will result in the substantial probability of harm, loss or damage to the public,” the petition states.

Chavez, who served as an assistant county attorney from 1989 to 1993, started his own firm in 1993. He has practiced criminal and civil law.

Meanwhile, Clear pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including conspiracy, racketeering, bribery and extortion on Feb. 12, but did not mention any other attorney in the plea agreement. The state Supreme Court has since formally disbarred him from the practice of law.

Four former APD officers, a former Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy and Clear and Mendez have entered guilty pleas. All are awaiting sentencing.

To date, state prosecutors have dismissed more than 260 pending DWI cases because the charges were filed by former officers who are under investigation in the scheme.