By Vic Vela
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Four former area cops on Tuesday were slapped with disciplinary action, including a lifetime loss of a law enforcement license for one of them, on the heels of their recent involvement in unrelated incidents.
Three of those disciplined were once Santa Fe police officers and one is a former Española cop. They include former Santa Fe police Det. Jose Valencia, who received the stiffest penalty from the Law Enforcement Academy Board after he was caught on an FBI tape allegedly making shady dealings with a known felon.
“He is no longer able to be a police officer in the state of New Mexico,” Academy Board Director Arthur Ortiz said Tuesday, referring to Valencia’s lifetime revocation of his law enforcement license.
Another former Santa Fe cop, Michael LeBlanc, who once headed the department’s property crimes unit, received a 30-day suspension from the board stemming from a 2004 domestic violence incident. And former officer Flavio Salazar received a letter of reprimand for allegedly lying to fellow police officers and a grand jury.
Meanwhile, the board handed down a four-year revocation to former Española police officer Eugene Rodella, who was allegedly involved in a tattoo parlor brawl in October.
The board made its findings Tuesday following a meeting in Albuquerque. The disciplinary action that each of the former cops received is administrative and not criminal in nature.
Valencia’s lifetime revocation follows a hearing officer’s recommendation to the board that he lose his law enforcement license for at least an eight-year period. The hearing officer recently heard testimony regarding allegations that Valencia agreed to provide guns to Maximiliano Gonzales, with the knowledge that Gonzales was going to use the weapons to commit murder.
Valencia, who was the president of the police union at the time of the incident, has also been accused of providing descriptions of undercover drug officers to Gonzales, among other allegations.
Valencia has long denied the allegations. He and his attorneys have said that the tapes the FBI used to record the former detective were edited or spliced to the point where entire conversations were taken out of context.
David Foster, who represented Valencia at his recent hearing, said Tuesday that he was not surprised by the board’s decision, considering that hearing officer Mark Radosevich refused to hear testimony from an audio technician who was expected to say that the tapes had been altered.
Foster has promised to appeal the board’s decision to state District Court. LeBlanc’s suspension was based on a 2004 incident in Rio Rancho, where he once faced a domestic violence charge for forcibly removing the mother of one of his kids off his property following an argument.
The former cop also faced disciplinary action by the board for a 2007 incident out of Albuquerque involving another woman, his ex-wife, who claimed that LeBlanc hit her. However, there was not enough evidence for the academy board to punish LeBlanc for that incident, according to Ortiz.
LeBlanc was again charged with domestic violence in Albuquerque in 2009 following an argument with his mother. The board has not taken action on that case.
LeBlanc was never convicted of any of the three charges he once faced. His attorney in the academy board proceedings, Michael Jones, said he felt the board’s punishment was acceptable, considering that his client had faced possible license revocation for his alleged actions.
“It was an appropriate resolution based upon what he was actually charged with,” Jones said.
As for Salazar, the third former Santa Fe cop, his letter of reprimand from the board was met with dissatisfaction by director Ortiz, who plans to reject the board’s decision. Ortiz originally recommended at least a six-month revocation period after Salazar allegedly lied to a grand jury and fellow officers, saying that he properly identified himself to a person who was allegedly involved in a 2007 domestic violence incident.
Santa Fe police fired Salazar after it was found that he lied to a grand jury about identifying himself. The city also had to pay out $225,000 after a lawsuit was filed by Fredrico Rael, who was later indicted on an assault charge by the grand jury, largely based on Salazar’s testimony.
Ortiz said he was “surprised” by the board’s decision and will call for a formal hearing, where more evidence will be presented for the board to consider. “Lying to the grand jury, to me is a serious matter,” Ortiz said.
Finally, Rodella’s punishment comes after an October incident where he and his brother were involved in a fight at a tattoo parlor and hookah bar.
Rodella - who is the brother of Tommy Rodella, who recently won the Democratic Party’s nomination for Rio Arriba County sheriff - admitted to officers that he drank “about a six-pack” before going to the Dragon’s Lair Hookah Lounge and Defiant Artist Tattoo Parlor in Española on Oct. 7 and allegedly starting a brawl with the proprietors and others associated with the businesses.
Rodella, who was fired from Española Police Department in December, currently faces criminal charges that include battery stemming from the incident.
His administrative punishment includes a four-year license revocation and five years of probation. He must also attend anger management classes and receive counseling for post traumatic stress disorder, according to Ortiz.
Copyright 2010 Albuquerque Journal