Bernalillo County sheriff places another deputy on leave amid DWI corruption scandal

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has identified another deputy possibly tied to a long-running DWI corruption scheme.

Deputy Jeffry Bartram was placed on paid leave Friday after Sheriff John Allen “received information” from the FBI on the criminal investigation, according to deputy Deanna Aragon, a BCSO spokesperson.

Aragon said Allen recently started his own internal probe into BCSO’s involvement in one of the largest public corruption cases to hit the state, in which law enforcement was being paid to let DWI cases get dismissed.

“The sheriff is being methodical and aggressive in his approach and is continuing to work with the FBI on this active and ongoing investigation,” Aragon said in an email Wednesday.

Bartram is the third BCSO employee tied to the scheme, in which defense attorney Thomas Clear III and his paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, according to their plea agreements, paid officers and deputies to miss hearings and make other missteps so that Clear’s clients went free.

Last month, BCSO Undersheriff Johann Jareno resigned after being interviewed by the FBI in the case and deputy Jeff Hammerel pleaded guilty, admitting he took bribes from Mendez and Clear.

Bartram has not been charged criminally in the corruption case.

Bartram joined BCSO in February 2010 and worked on BCSO’s DWI unit from July 2014 to August 2020, Aragon said.

Court records show that Bartram had 20 DWI cases with Clear as the defense attorney between 2015 and 2020. Of those, at least 13 were dismissed, many due to Bartram not making interviews or hearings and at least one because he didn’t turn over evidence.

In November 2019, Mothers Against Drunk Driving awarded the BCSO DWI unit — which included Jareno and Bartram — as “DWI unit of the year.”

At least three Albuquerque officers have taken guilty pleas in the case, which Clear said in a plea agreement went back three decades.

The FBI’s investigation came to light in January 2024 when agents raided the homes of several officers, Mendez’s home and Clear’s law office.

Since then, one New Mexico State Police officer has been placed on leave and, following an internal probe by the Albuquerque Police Department, more than a dozen APD officers have been placed on leave, 10 of whom have since resigned, retired or been fired.