US Attorney Uballez

The US Attorney appears to be on his way to making major inroads in cleaning up the ABQ police department, crafting plea bargains with two crooked cops and adroitly utilizing stool pigeon Rick Mendez. But a major question lingers.

Mendez was the wingman for the attorney alleged to have gone bad and who masterminded the scandal. The "DWI Enterprise"--as the Feds call it--had greedy officers take the lawyer's bribes in exchange for not showing up for his clients DWI court cases, all to the delight of the attorney, the suspected drunk drivers and the paid-off police. 

But the major question our Legal Beagles have is how far and wide will the USA's dragnet go? Enough to punish members of APD leadership who were part of the years-long Enterprise or engaged in covering it up?

Look at these money lines from one of the plea bargains:  

(Officer) Alba admitted that he, (attorney) Clear and (Clear private investigator) Mendez also asked senior APD officers who had been involved in the scheme “to use their positions and influence” to ensure the officers involved were not exposed, according to the plea agreement. Alba asked these senior officers for help in the fall of 2023 when a complaint was filed against him with the Civilian Police Oversight Agency, his plea agreement stated.

That's the climb up the food chain that has to be making APD Chief Medina and other higher-ups doing some Midnight pacing. For if the Feds do get to the top rungs of the APD ladders it could mark an historic turning point in addressing the cultural rot that has so long infected APD and gone untreated. 

This lack of consequences has fostered more scandals and more looking away by various mayors, city councils, legislatures and a large swath of the public unable to confront the betrayal of trust as crime is feared more than rancid corruption.

While US Attorney Alexander Uballez has done enough so folks can finally pronounce his name and nod with approval, but how impactful will his time at the helm seem years from now? If history is any guide and the APD scandal is put to bed by confining the legal action to rank and file DWI officers, it may be seen as a nice try but no cigar.

WATCHDOG BARKS

APD watchdog and former police sergeant Dan Klein digs a bit deeper: 

Chief Medina placed command staff officers who were part of the DWI Enterprise into ranking positions in Internal Affairs, a commander and major, both of whom resigned or were terminated during the investigation. It clearly shows Medina allowed the fox into the hen house. He assigned command staff officers who were directly involved in the DWI Enterprise to the highest level positions in Internal Affairs where these ranking officers then helped to cover up the DWI Enterprise.  

For his part, Medina continues to deflect when it comes to demanding accountability for the past, present and future of his long-troubled and provably corrupt agency:

Medina, who has led the department since 2022, pointed out (the DWI scandal) didn’t start under his leadership, but ended under his leadership.“This isn’t about blaming the past. This is about this point in time, this chief, this administration got this resolved. We found out about it, we exposed it, we investigated it, and we held people accountable,” said Medina. The chief said he is not blaming past mayors or chiefs, explaining that he had a tough time uncovering the DWI scheme, saying those accused of being involved did well hiding it. According to Medina, the blame should be placed on the officers who participated in the scheme.

The Chief is essentially saying of the past wrongdoing "move along, nothing to see there." The tragedy is that it sounds so familiar and is the culture that has boost record high crime levels.

DAYS OF UBALLEZ

The Trump administration has not yet  given Democrat Uballez his walking papers but he is on the clock.  In his first term, President Trump asked for the resignation of then-USA Damon Martinez effective March 10, 2017, less than two months after his inauguration. Trump will do the same again and appoint a GOP US attorney but when is unknown.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.