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Second sheriff's deputy charged in scheme to protect informant
A second Bernalillo County Sheriff鈥檚 Office detective accused of trying to keep the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from arresting a drug dealer informant is facing federal charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy and lying to the FBI.
A federal grand jury indictment made public late Wednesday charges deputy Paul Jessen Jr. in the scheme to tip off the informant that he was on the DEA鈥檚 radar from November 2021 to January 2022.
A plea agreement made public Tuesday states that former sheriff鈥檚 detective Kyle Linker was assisted by another sheriff鈥檚 deputy in the effort to thwart the DEA investigation of the informant.
Jessen has received a summons to appear in federal court on Oct. 7 on the four-count indictment. He couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Linker, who resigned from the agency in 2022, pleaded guilty to one count of felony obstruction of justice/aiding and abetting on Tuesday and is awaiting sentencing.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the Northern District of Texas to avoid a potential conflict with the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in New Mexico, which prosecutes cases involving the DEA and other law enforcement agencies.
Jessen is charged with attempting to 鈥渃orruptly obstruct, influence and impede an official proceeding, namely a federal grand jury investigation鈥 in November and December 2021, and making a materially false statement by telling the FBI on Jan. 20, 2022, that he 鈥渉ad no personal knowledge鈥 that Linker had obstructed the DEA investigation of the informant.
Details of the 2陆-year criminal investigation are contained in federal records filed this week.
Those records show the informant blew the whistle on the alleged BCSO officers鈥 scheme and ended up helping in the federal investigation that targeted them. He is facing federal drug charges and is in federal custody.
The two detectives were part of a 鈥渃ommunity action team鈥 focused primarily on drug distribution cases.
Linker, who joined the BCSO in 2015, and Jessen were singled out by then-BCSO Sheriff Manny Gonzales in July 2021 as 鈥渘on-uniformed deputies鈥 of the quarter.
About that same time, Linker began to cultivate a methamphetamine dealer as a confidential informant.
According to federal records, Linker and Jessen encountered the dealer in July 2021 while executing a residential drug search warrant in Los Ranchos.
The individual wasn鈥檛 arrested at the time and agreed to work with law enforcement 鈥渋n consideration of potential drug charges.鈥 Linker was to act as the informant鈥檚 primary law enforcement contact and direct his cooperation.
But the DEA had the same man on its radar. The plea agreement states that the informant had continued trafficking drugs, including methamphetamine, in the weeks and months after his encounter with the sheriff鈥檚 detectives.
Linker learned of the DEA鈥檚 plan to do a drug sting near the informant鈥檚 home, and fearing that might lead to his informant鈥檚 arrest, Linker tipped off the informant. The DEA began to get suspicious and decided to target the informant without notifying Linker.
Linker鈥檚 plea agreement states that a DEA task force officer contacted him on Dec. 16, 2021, to say the agents were planning to use another informant to buy a pound of methamphetamine from Linker鈥檚 informant. The DEA agent told Linker not to contact the informant himself, but immediately afterward Linker messaged his informant to call him ASAP, not knowing that the informant was in the presence of law enforcement at the time.
He then messaged a 鈥淒eputy 2鈥 to express frustration with the DEA. Deputy 2 then allegedly advised Linker to tell the informant not to 鈥渟ell to anyone鈥 and 鈥済o to a hotel or stay with someone for a bit.鈥
Then Linker told Deputy 2 to call the confidential informant 鈥 鈥渢hat way when they ultimately say I tipped (CI) off I can show them my call logs and be like I haven鈥檛 talked to him since that morning.鈥
鈥淒eputy 2 then texted, 鈥業鈥檒l (expletive) do it. I still have his number.鈥欌
Linker replied, 鈥淧erfect. Plausible deniability for me because you know that鈥檚 100% what they are going to say.鈥 Later that same afternoon, Linker left the informant a voicemail stating, 鈥渕y buddy (Deputy 2) and I are gonna call you from his phone.鈥 He ultimately told the informant to 鈥渃ontact Deputy 2 in the future.鈥
The BCSO suspended Linker from active duty after that interaction, but Linker continued to ask Deputy 2 to keep in contact with the informant and find out if he was cooperating with the DEA. At a Jan. 6, 2022, meeting with Deputy 2 and the informant, the deputy attempted to search the informant to make sure he wasn鈥檛 wearing a recording device. It turns out, he was.
During that meeting, Deputy 2, according to Linker鈥檚 plea agreement, told the informant, 鈥淪o I鈥檓 gonna tell you this because I trust you and if I find out that you鈥檙e like working up for the DEA and you鈥檙e gonna try and rat me out, like I鈥檓 not gonna answer your phone calls or anything like that.鈥