近距离内射合集

One of the more high-profile Albuquerque police officers put on leave amid an FBI investigation into drunken driving case dismissals has resigned after 18 years on the force.

Joshua Monta帽o quit just days after being asked to give a statement for an Internal Affairs inquiry that was triggered by allegations of corruption within the DWI unit in the past decade.

In Monta帽o鈥檚 resignation letter, provided to the Journal by the Albuquerque Police Department, the former officer said that what he got 鈥渃aught up in鈥� was generational and approved by supervisors.

鈥淐hief (Harold) Medina has made it seem like there are just a few bad officers acting on their own,鈥� Monta帽o wrote in the letter. 鈥淭his is far from the truth.鈥�

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the department is looking at others in its internal probe of DWI corruption allegations, including retired officers.

Monta帽o鈥檚 attorney in the IA investigation, Thomas Grover, said the resignation letter shows the alleged conduct 鈥渄idn鈥檛 happen within a cell or a silo.鈥�

The alleged scheme, still under investigation by federal authorities, involved a prominent defense attorney who managed to get dozens of DWI cases dismissed in Metropolitan Court in recent years on technical issues, such as arresting officers failing to show up for interviews or court.

Grover told the Journal earlier Thursday that his client鈥檚 decision not to give a statement wasn鈥檛 an admission of wrongdoing.

鈥淎bsolutely not,鈥� Grover said. 鈥淢y advice, my counsel, was, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 give a statement. It鈥檚 patently unfair and inappropriate.鈥欌��

APD officers are compelled to submit to IA interviews if requested to do so, but Grover said APD鈥檚 IA inquiry was 鈥渋nept because there was so much sloppiness in how they (IA investigators) were issuing target letters,鈥� among other issues.

鈥淏ecause of various defects in the city鈥檚 investigation, he was left with no choice but to resign,鈥� Grover said. 鈥淣othing that I鈥檓 saying discounts the expectations that the public has of police officers, but there鈥檚 even greater expectations of the agencies and departments that lead those officers to do proper and effective Internal Affairs investigations.鈥�

Grover pointed to public statements made by Chief Medina and Mayor Tim Keller, who released a statement in January saying, in part, 鈥淭his investigation involves a handful of long-time officers at APD, going back a decade; if true, what these individuals did is a disgrace to the badge, and erodes faith in law enforcement.鈥�

Keller鈥檚 statement added: 鈥淎ny individuals who engaged in this conduct will never work for the City again, and should be held accountable to full extent of the law. The department鈥檚 willingness to drive accountability, especially on its own, reflects how far we have come.鈥�

Grover told the Journal, 鈥淗ere the city and APD鈥檚 command staff failed my client and, frankly, the citizens, with an investigation that was ... irresponsible because of the public statements by Medina and Keller that essentially made these 鈥榠nvestigations鈥� a sham with preconceived conclusions.鈥�

Gallegos, the APD spokesman, responded to Grover鈥檚 comments late Thursday, saying, 鈥淚f the investigation was flawed, why did five officers resign?鈥�

鈥楥omfort and support鈥�

Monta帽o鈥檚 resignation letter is the only one that has been shared by APD.

In the letter, Monta帽o said he thought he would get 鈥渁n opportunity鈥� to tell APD what he knew about the alleged corruption 鈥渁nd how the issues I let myself get caught up in within the DWI Unit were generational.鈥�

鈥淚 thought there would be a time where I could talk about all the other people who should be on administrative leave as well, but aren鈥檛,鈥� he wrote in the letter. 鈥淭hat opportunity was denied to me.鈥�

Gallegos said Monta帽o had four opportunities to do so, in scheduled interviews with Internal Affairs investigators. He said Monta帽o missed every interview, and then resigned.

Grover, Monta帽o鈥檚 attorney, said despite the four requests for an IA interview, his client refused to be interviewed 鈥渦nder the conditions they presented.鈥�

In the first segment of the resignation letter, Monta帽o talks about how he 鈥渇ell in love鈥� with APD, risked his life 鈥渙n numerous occasions鈥� and did 鈥済reat and amazing things鈥� for his community as an officer.

Monta帽o wrote he was 鈥渁ll but abandoned鈥� by APD after he was seriously injured in a crash with a drunken driver in 2022. He wrote that he then found 鈥渃omfort and support鈥� from his fellow officers in APD鈥檚 DWI Unit.

鈥淭hey were my family because they cared for me when others didn鈥檛 and they supported me when others wouldn鈥檛,鈥� Monta帽o wrote. 鈥淗owever, that support came with a high price and on January 18, 2024, I found out what the cost of that support really meant.鈥�

That was the date FBI agents raided the home of Monta帽o鈥檚 fellow DWI-unit officers Honorio Alba Jr. and Harvey Johnson Jr. as well as the law office of Thomas Clear III and the home of Clear鈥檚 paralegal, Ricardo Mendez.

The FBI investigation, which has involved the U.S. Department of Justice, has yet to result in any criminal charges. What agents found and their rationale for the searches remain under seal.

Meanwhile, Monta帽o, Alba, Johnson, officer Nelson Ortiz and Lt. Justin Hunt had been on paid administrative leave since mid-January. Monta帽o is the last of those to resign.

鈥淲hen I was put on administrative leave, I thought there would be an opportunity for me to talk to the department about what I knew regarding the FBI鈥檚 investigation,鈥� he wrote in his letter. 鈥淚n order for me to talk to the City about what I knew, I needed to not be the City鈥檚 scapegoat for its own failures.鈥�

After alleging that other, unidentified APD personnel were involved, Monta帽o said, 鈥淣one of (the) allegations against myself or others in the DWI Unit happened without supervisory knowledge. And they didn鈥檛 just happen over a few years ago.鈥�

In the last paragraph, Monta帽o wrote, 鈥淚 take responsibility for my actions.鈥�

鈥淗owever, APD鈥檚 investigations of me have been unfair, and because of Chief Medina鈥檚 public statements, the outcome of these investigations is already set,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭herefore, I have no choice but to hereby resign from my position with APD.鈥�

Monta帽o called the resignation 鈥渟uch a difficult moment for me.鈥�

In the final sentence, he wrote that he did not waive his employee benefits, listing out 鈥渆arned and accrued sick, vacation, or comp time and respectfully request that I be out-processed as any other employee would be upon resigning from the department.鈥�

Recent allegations

Monta帽o was also the officer who was accused in a Feb. 22 Journal article of suggesting a DWI suspect hire attorney Clear.

The suspect, Carlos Sandoval-Smith, told the Journal last month that Monta帽o arrested him for DWI in June and later telephoned him to say he had the suspect鈥檚 bracelet in his possession. Monta帽o told him to go to Clear鈥檚 Northeast Heights office to pick it up, he said. That鈥檚 where Sandoval-Smith said he met Mendez, the paralegal, who returned his bracelet.

During that meeting, according to a recording Sandoval-Smith made of the meeting, Mendez told him, 鈥淚f you need to get off of this, you鈥檙e at the right place鈥� 鈥� for the price of $8,500.

That law office was one of the locations searched by the FBI in January. Sandoval-Smith, meanwhile, didn鈥檛 hire Clear but sought legal representation from the state Law Office of the Public Defender. His case was dismissed in January.

None of the officers who were suspended have commented publicly. Clear and Mendez haven鈥檛 returned Journal phone calls.

The federal criminal investigation spurred 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman鈥檚 office to dismiss nearly 200 pending DWI cases filed by the suspended officers, whose credibility could have been challenged in court because of the ongoing FBI investigation.

The four other officers who have resigned during the Internal Affairs investigation are: Hunt, who started at APD in 2000 and resigned on Feb. 7; Alba, who started at APD in 2014 and resigned on Feb. 29; Johnson, who started at APD in 2014 and resigned on March 13; and Ortiz, who started at APD in 2016 and resigned on March 15.