ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Justin Hunt, a former Albuquerque Police Department lieutenant, has pleaded guilty to his role in the DWI Dismissal Scandal. Hunt makes the 10th officer to take a plea.
KRQE’s coverage of the DWI Dismissal Scandal
According to court documents, attorney Thomas Clear III’s paralegal, Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, and others would go out drinking with a person. Once that person had become drunk, Hunt would be notified of where the person was driving, and Hunt would pull them over for DWI. That person would then be told of a way that they could pay Clear, and the charges would be dropped.
Hunt said he also received legal services for participating in the DWI Enterprise.
Specifically, in May 2014, Hunt admitted that Mendez took one of Clear’s clients to a strip club for the client’s birthday. Mendez then bought alcohol for the client at the strip club. According to court documents, the client drank “a large amount of alcohol,” and when they went to leave the strip club, Mendez told Hunt the vehicle make and where it would be. Hunt pulled the client over and arrested them for DWI. When the client hired Clear, Hunt received wheels, tires, and a lift kit. He then “intentionally failed to appear at required criminal settings and the MVD hearing,” which caused the case to be dropped…