近距离内射合集

The decision to withhold the names of six Albuquerque police officers facing internal investigation in the DWI extortion scandal appeared to be a departure from past practice under former Police Chief Harold Medina.

But an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman insisted there has been no shift in policy or practice since Medina鈥檚 successor, Cecily Barker, became chief in March.

APD announced Aug. 31 that the six officers were on leave with pay pending an internal affairs investigation. Agency spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the officers hadn鈥檛 yet been interviewed and offered no timetable as to when that will occur.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a little odd the department would make that statement without identifying the officers,鈥� said Albuquerque attorney Thomas Grover, who represents officers accused of misconduct.

Since early 2025, nine APD officers, one Bernalillo County Sheriff鈥檚 deputy, two Albuquerque attorneys and a paralegal have pleaded guilty to federal charges ranging from racketeering to extortion.

When the FBI鈥檚 criminal case came to light in January 2024, Medina opened a parallel Internal Affairs inquiry into the allegations that multiple DWI unit officers dating back decades had been receiving money and gifts in exchange for failing to file paperwork or attend interviews or hearings on suspects they arrested.

In all but one case, APD has identified the officers who were targets of the internal administrative investigation and placed on leave.

鈥淢aybe this is an indication that business is going to be done a little differently (under Barker),鈥� Grover said. Medina retired from the APD on Dec. 31.

Grover in late July filed a lawsuit on behalf of former Internal Affairs commander Mark Landavazo, one of two supervisors who was identified by the APD as being placed on administrative leave in connection with the administrative inquiry. Both were later terminated, but were never charged in the scheme.

Landavazo鈥檚 whistleblower lawsuit contends he was unfairly targeted and used as a 鈥渟capegoat鈥� by Medina.

Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers鈥� Association, said he didn鈥檛 know the reasoning for not releasing the names but commented, 鈥渁t the end of the day, we have a new chief now.鈥�

Willoughby said, regardless of the why, he thought it was 鈥渢actically more appropriate鈥� to not name officers who are pending an internal investigation and not criminally charged.

鈥淚 think the department has a long history of willy-nilly releasing names of officers when there鈥檚 just allegations,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have always taken issue with the department on that.鈥�

Asked to explain why the officers weren鈥檛 identified, Gallegos told the Journal that APD had previously named officers put on leave if they were deemed 鈥淕iglio-impaired鈥� by the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in New Mexico, which is overseeing the DWI extortion prosecution.

Currently, there are 17 former law enforcement officers linked to the DWI scandal on the list. Known formally as the Brady-Giglio disclosure list, it names law enforcement personnel deemed untrustworthy to testify.

When reminded on Wednesday that two APD Internal Affairs supervisors who weren鈥檛 on the list were publicly identified during Medina鈥檚 tenure, Gallegos responded, 鈥淭he Giglio List is one reason we identified officers in the past.鈥�

The two APD officers named were Gustavo Gomez, who was fired in March 2025 and Landavazo, who was terminated on Aug. 1, 2024. In the months preceding their departures, APD reported they had been placed on leave.

Asked why they were named, Gallegos told the Journal, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 recall specifically, but I know there were concerns because they were both Commanders at Internal Affairs.鈥�

In his state whistleblower lawsuit against the city, Landavazo contends he was 鈥渟ingled out鈥� by Medina.

Landavazo was accused of short-circuiting a complaint relayed by an FBI agent in 2022 that involved a DWI offender arrested by one of the officers involved in the extortion scheme.

Landavazo, who had nearly 20 years with the APD, contends that after checking with his supervisor, he referred the FBI agent to the Civilian Police Oversight Agency. Medina has previously told the Journal that that the complaint should have been directed to his office.

Landavazo鈥檚 lawsuit states that Landavazo never saw the actual complaint to the FBI, but that he became the 鈥渇ocus of scrutiny, allowing leadership to include then-Chief Medina to deflect attention from systemic issues and shift accountability away from high-level decision-makers.鈥�

The city hadn鈥檛 filed an answer in the lawsuit as of Friday.

Gallegos defended the APD as being 鈥渢ransparent by publicly announcing this update in its investigation and decision to place six officers on administrative leave during the investigation.鈥�

The announcement occurred after what appeared to be a monthslong wind-down of the federal prosecution.

 The U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in New Mexico hasn鈥檛 filed criminal charges in the case since January, when former APD Lt. Justin Hunt, a 21-year veteran, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion.

And it had been more than a year since APD鈥檚 last public statements about any administrative inquiry that was part of the DWI-scheme investigation.

Meanwhile, sentencing dates are still months away for those convicted in the scheme, including Ricardo Mendez, who handled the day-to-day operations by recruiting officers and soliciting and extorting clients to pay thousands of dollars for prominent defense attorney Thomas Clear III to get their cases dismissed.

There are no sentencing dates for the two principals in the case, Mendez and Clear, who has been disbarred.

Colleen Heild is an investigative reporter for the Journal. Reach her at cheild@abqjournal.com.

Matt Reisen is a senior reporter for the Journal. Reach him at mreisen@abqwjournal.com.