ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The latest attorney implicated in the massive public corruption scandal surrounding DWI cases has had his law license suspended. The feds have not charged attorney Rudolph “Rudy” Chavez in the decades-long criminal scheme that involved attorneys and police officers taking bribes to get drunk driving suspects off the hook but his name was tied to the scandal last week when the state’s disciplinary board moved to revoke his law license.
The board cited the confessions of two key players in the conspiracy, former paralegal Rick Mendez and former Albuquerque police officer Honorio Alba Jr., who described soliciting bribes in a drunk driving case and said the attorney on that case was in on the scheme. Court records show that Chavez represented that defendant. In a court filing defending his license, Chavez denied involvement and claimed Mendez and Alba made false statements to the feds.
A hearing on whether to suspend Chavez’s license is set for April 7. While that’s pending, the New Mexico Supreme Court granted a temporary suspension, effective immediately.