By: ABQRAW staff
Posted: 01/25/2024 @ 8:30AM
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Albuquerque – The Albuquerque Police Department employees that are currently being investigated by the FBI in regards to a possible corruption scandal involving DWI cases have been identified.
This week we asked the DA’s office through a public records request for their updated Giglio list and yesterday Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman’s office released an updated Giglio list that included the alleged APD officers to ABQ RAW. One officer was not on the original Giglio list provided but more than likely the name will be added later today.
Also through a vigorous search of court records, property records checks and piecing together other information ABQRAW has now determined that the APD employees under investigation are: Lieutenant Justin Hunt, Officer Honorio Alba Jr., Officer Joshua Montano, Officer Harvey Johnson Jr., and Officer Nelson Ortiz.
It should be stressed that these officers have not been charged with any crimes and are still employed by APD at this time.
A Giglio (or Brady) list – contains the names (and details) of law enforcement officers who have have engaged in incidents of untruthfulness, have criminal convictions, enjoy candor issues, or have engaged in some other incident that places their credibility into question.
In Bernalillo County this list is maintained by the DA’s office and shared with defense attorneys. A non-negotiable element of due process is that the prosecution must turn over evidence that is favorable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment. In short, someone who is accused of a crime has a right to know if the officer testifying against them has credibility issues. Relevant to these allegations – how can an officer deliver testimony deemed credible in court if there is evidence that the officer has engaged in the uncouth practice of accepting bribes?
An officer that earns a spot on this list would have a difficult time testifying in court and therefore many police departments terminate these officers – because if an officer cannot testify in court then they cannot realistically play any essential role in a criminal investigation. It’s a good thing that APD has a ton of ancillary positions that have zero to do with arresting and prosecuting criminals.
One Officer of note is Officer Honorio Alba. He was recently named the 2023 MADD (Mother’s Against Drunk Driving) New Mexico officer of the year. See below:
As previously reported we know that 156 DWI cases have been dismissed by the Bernalillo County District Attorney. One of the reasons for those dismissals is the fact that four of these officers (Alba, Montano, Johnson, and Ortiz) have been added to the Giglio (or Brady) disclosure list.
Aside from the FBI investigation we have learned that the Internal Affairs Division of APD is also conducting an administrative investigation that will focus on violations of department policy.
While this investigation is pending, Lieutenant Hunt is on administrative assignment and the other four officers are on administrative leave. While on both administrative assignment and administrative leave these officers will continue to be paid their normal hourly rates.
Though the officers are still on the city payroll – this is not a sought after position for any police officer (admin leave). APD would have essentially stripped these guys of their police powers and repossessed their guns, badges, police cars, and other pertinent city-issued equipment and hidden them at a desk inside somewhere.
Chief Harold Medina has explained that APD is cooperating with the federal investigation and ABQRAW expects this internal investigation to be a top priority for the department – as there is an extreme incentive to get this one right and avoid any finding that would contradict what the federal investigation will uncover.
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The roots of corruption run far to deep in this state. It’s time to clean the slate & start completely fresh. No more Patron & good ol boy network.
I was pulled over back in 2006, I was being beaten by my abusive boyfriend again, I saw an officer directly behind me so, I purposely made a left hand turn at an intersection here in town, on a red light whie being strangled by my abuser, who was in the passenger seat & had his hands firmly & tightly wrapped around my throat, cutting off my ability to breath & this was all visable to the officer directly behind me. That offIxer was the whole reason that I continued to make the turn on the red light. I was praying I’d be pulled over &. I was. I was visably shaken & had been crying after being punched, smacked, & strangled at the intersection & prior but, sadly, even though I accomplished getting pulled over by the officer knowing he had witnessed the abuse, he did absolutely NOTHING to my abuser & instead he was claiming because my eyes were so swollen, glassy & red due to being slapped, punched & strangled plus, I couldn’t stop crying, so yes, I could hardly see, my eyes felt like literally 2 slits. The officer alluded to me being drunk & then actually allowed my abuser, who he’d witnessed abusing me to get out of my car & walk away. He told him to go to the nearest gas station & call for a ride. In the meantime, I did terribly on the DWI follow the pen test & I was arrested. I can remember the officer who took my mug shot & finger printed me, saying that he knew I didn’t belong there, & someone was making a mistake & he wished me the best. I would eventually wind up losing my job over this, & my license for a year. I couldn’t afford Clear & the attorney that I retained & paid to represent me did absolutely NOTHING, I had to come back 3 different times, this was why I lost my job, the officer never showed up & the 3rd time the officer still didn’t show up so, the judge said he was going to give him 30 minutes & if he failed to show up in that 30 min, he was going to throw my case out. Well, 45 minutes later the officer finally showed up & rather then the judge honoring his word, he continued the case. The officer, whose mercy I was at & the judge making me show up 3 different times, is what cost me my job, The officer was quick to refer to his notes, blaming my appearance & emotional state on DWI but, had NOTHING about my being a victim of domestic violence or about how he had witnessed me being strangled at the stop light or, about how he let my abuser walk away. The attorney, I wasted $2,500 dollars on, sat there & did & said NOTHING. After it was over & I was charged with DWI, & then my attorney told me he could sense I wasn’t very happy with him, to which I replied, how astute of you. Being a victim of domestic violence & then hiring an attorney who never said a word, only took my money, I just thanked this attorney for screwing me a second time. I could have done a better job representing myself or, possibly even had a public defender do a better job. That was the beginning of an awful year. Then finally I was eligible to get my license back, except I couldn’t because, I learned the attorney apparently, didn’t bother charging me the extra hundred bucks for reinstatement, & being jobless I couldn’t afford the interlock & if matters couldn’t get worse, the attorney wound up passeing away. For the past 20 yrs, I’ve been driving without a driver’s license. The good news is, I was able to get out & have stayed out of abusive relationship’s. Thanks to who ever has read this far for listening to how easy it is for Albuquerque’s finest, who are so hyper focused on corruption & in being corrupt themselves, so much, they lose sight of & blatantly ignore domestic Violence abusers commiting violence against their victim right in front of them & even know they’ve clearly witnessed it with their own eyes, they would rather falsely accuse a victim of domestic violence of DWI & destroy her life in the process. So, I’m very sorry but, I find it extremely difficult to trust or stand behind an entity that’s only self serving & in my opinion doesn’t live up to the oath they take to become an officer & they certainly don’t care about someone like me who can’t afford & isn’t willing to fund & support their corrupt practices. Maybe, a large part of it is because they themselves, have many domestic violence issues within their own families & personal lives that are neatly swept under the carpet, covered up, & never mentioned.
Respectfully ~
Disenchanted.