ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – On Friday, two former Albuquerque Police Department officers involved in the DWI dismissal scandal pleaded guilty. In federal court, former APD officers Honorio Alba Jr. and Joshua Montaño plead guilty to RICO conspiracy, bribery, and conspiracy to commit extortion.
KRQE Investigative Reporter Gabrielle Burkhart dug through police and court records to explain why Joshua Montaño’s tenure with the Albuquerque Police Department, and his connection with a prominent defense attorney, played a major role in the scandal.
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Now-former Albuquerque police officer Joshua Montaño started working for the City of Albuquerque as a police service aide in 2005 before becoming a sworn APD officer in 2007. From 2015 through 2024, he worked with APD’s DWI Unit tasked with cracking down on drunk drivers and keeping the streets safe. But KRQE Investigates uncovered cases in Montaño’s history that raise red flags.
KRQE News 13 first showed the case of Carlos Smith last year. Smith was pulled over by Montaño for speeding then blew below the legal limit twice. Montano still charged him with DWI. Smith said that Montaño left him a voicemail.
Officer Montaño: Hey Carlos, this is Officer Montaño with APD. I was just giving you a call because I – I don’t know if you realize, but I’m sure you do that – some of your jewelry was missing from the property from Sunday evening. And it looks like the PTC officers didn’t put that in your bag, but I have it.”
Smith says Montaño directed him to defense attorney Thomas Clear III’s office where Smith recorded an interaction he had with Clear’s paralegal — Rick Mendez.
Paralegal: “So we charge $8,500 and you could do it in payments.
Smith: “And with you representing me, that would guarantee that this doesn’t go on my record? Paralegal: “Yes.”
Mendez was the first to plead guilty to federal RICO conspiracy charges in what the feds call a “DWI Enterprise” that goes back decades, revealing officers from APD’s DWI Unit and others from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police funneled arrestees to his office. Mendez says he conspired with the officers to ensure they’d miss court — and the cases would get dismissed. In exchange, officers were paid cash, or other gifts like free legal services, gift cards, and hotel rooms.
KRQE’s investigative team went through years of court data and found that in a six-year period, from 2018 to 2023, Montaño had at least 36 DWI cases overlapping with defense attorney Clear III. 31 of them ended in a dismissal.
In April 2022, local attorney Damon Ely passed along a tip to the FBI after someone came forward saying an APD Officer Montaño confiscated their driver’s license after a DWI arrest and passed it along to Mendez who offered a deal that they pay $10,000 in exchange for charges dropped. “I was really proud of these people coming forward because I think it takes real courage to do it,” said Ely.
Aside from criminal court, KRQE News 13 found that Montaño was also absent for MVD license hearings in cases where defendants were represented by Attorney Clear.
Hearing Officer: “It’s now 1:16, there’s no email from Officer Montaño or any messages about his difficulties, so I’m gonna mark it as a failure to appear.”
Montaño’s absence allowed suspected drunk drivers to keep their driver’s licenses after an arrest. In 2022, Montaño also had a personal run-in with DWI when a suspected drunk driver crashed into him. While he recovered, his family solicited donations from the public through a GoFundMe. He returned to work.
Then last February, Montaño was put on leave pending an internal affairs investigation into the DWI scheme. Montaño resigned the following month writing, “the issues I let myself get caught up in within the DWI Unit were generational” and “none of the allegations against myself or others in the DWI Unit happened without supervisory knowledge.”
Records show Joshua Montaño had at least six internal affairs investigations launched against him in his nearly 20 years with APD. Four of those were for missing court and he was exonerated in at least three of those investigations. Montaño was in APD’s DWI Unit for roughly seven years. Montaño was named Uniform Officer of the Month in 2012.
Joshua Montaño’s lawyer sent this statement:
Today, Joshua Montaño appeared in Federal Court and fully admitted his involvement in the DWI scandal.
He regrets his actions and is deeply remorseful. He knows he let down his community and he failed to uphold his duty as a police officer. He apologizes to the community and to his friends and family.
Lisa Torraco