Uballez (KNME-TV)

What ever happened to the DWI bribery scandal at the ABQ police department? That's a question now forming on the lips of the city's political community as they weigh the possible impact of what appears to be the worst scandal in APD's history on the November mayoral election.

With the one year anniversary of the FBI probe about to hit, there is no clear timetable on when there will be any action or a decision to take no action.

The investigation went public January 18, 2024 when the Feds conducted raids on the homes of a number of APD officers working for the DWI unit. 

The cops are suspected of conspiring with at least one defense attorney to get DWI cases thrown out of court by taking bribes to not show up for the trials of those they arrested. The bribes allegedly came from the attorney who charged the DWI defendants a pretty penny and passed on some of the take to the dirty cops.

At least 150 DWI cases have been dismissed because of the scandal and 10 APD officers have been placed on leave. Others quickly resigned.

The bombshell news was the loudest in one of a long series that have rocked APD in recent decades and looms over the emerging race for ABQ mayor as Tim Keller seeks a third term. 

So where do things stand? 

NM US attorney Alexander Uballez, who will soon be replaced by a Republican appointed by President Trump, had no clear answers when interviewed Jan 10 on Public TV. 

The transcript:

Q: Should we expect that we get to learn something about that (APD) investigation at some point?

A: The beautiful thing about serving alongside these people is knowing that no matter who sits in my chair or in a chair in DC they're going to do their job for this community. They're from here they're not teleworking from DC they're invested in this community live in this community care about it and you can expect whether or not I'm sitting in the chair that they will still do their jobs.

Q: Do you have a sense of a timeline for when we might learn something about that investigation?

A: I do.

Q:Anything you can share?

A: No. 

That's far from a satisfying answer for the public or the politicos, but it is not unusual for such investigations to drag on for months--or even years. Also, it is not the practice of the Justice Department to drop bombshell legal actions in the immediate weeks before an election. But if one does drop between now and September, it could create a big crater in the race for the city's leadership post. 

ALCON SERVICES 

The family of former state Rep. Eliseo Alcon, 74, who passed away this week, announced the following services:  

Rep. Alcon will lie in state at the Roundhouse Rotunda on Monday, January 20th from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. A service will be conducted by the Archbishop at 4:30 p.m.

Funeral services will be a rosary, Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m and a funeral mass Friday, Jan. 24  at 11 a.m. Flowers are welcome. The rosary and funeral mass will be at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Grants.

THE BOTTOM LINES

Mayoral candidate Eddy Aragon did not seek nor qualify for public financing in his 2021 mayoral bid as we first reported Wednesday. And he received 18 percent of the vote not 15 percent.

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