Docs show Democrat BernCo sheriff candidate John Allen falsified testimony

According to court documents released by the Republican candidate for Bernalillo County sheriff, Paul Pacheco, Democrat candidate John Allen “falsified testimony in order to ensure the conviction of Hispanic male.” 

According to Pecheco’s campaign in a press release, “The documents obtained from the NM State Police and Federal District Courts, through public information requests, showed that Democratic Candidate for Sheriff of Bernalillo County John Allen had perjured himself in court while attempting to fabricate testimony … to ensure the conviction of a Hispanic male. The Hispanic male had been charged with nine felony criminal counts. The Judge and District Attorney realized that the testimony presented by John Allen was false and all criminal charges were dismissed.”

“In the documents presented was a letter from Officer Rodriguez, through his attorney, that was presented to the Federal Judge. It states that Officer Rodriguez had testified against John Allen in the criminal case and admitted to participating in the illegal search with John Allen. Officer Rodriguez goes on to state that John Allen had ‘made false statements in an attempt to insure that the unlawfully seized contraband would be used to support the felony charges filed…’ Officer Rodriguez goes on to state that ‘Despite reviewing the videotape of the traffic stop at the aforementioned suppression hearing Officer Allen persisted in his false testimony….’ The State Police initiated an investigation against John Allen for the misconduct/perjury. The misconduct/perjury charge was sustained.”  

The release further noted:

Many questions remain to be answered about this incident. First off is the “Giglio” issue. A Giglio or Brady list is a list compiled usually by a prosecutor’s office or a police department containing the names and details of law enforcement officers who have had sustained incidents of untruthfulness or some other type of issue placing their credibility into question. The District Attorney’s Office regularly asks these questions of Deputies prior to criminal cases to seek out if the Deputy is impugned in any way. Specifically, the Bernalillo County DA’s office has a question “2. “Are you aware of any court or judicial body that has determined you provided false or deliberately misleading testimony under oath?”. How did John Allen answer this question? Do the other criminal cases John Allen was involved in need to be reviewed by the District Attorney to see if his perjured testimony was used to convict in criminal court? How does John Allen expect to be transparent and open as Sheriff if he wins the election?

According to audio from an interview with Allen, he admitted that his perjury was a “rookie mistake.” 

Pacheco said in a statement about the revelations, “I am disappointed the public was not better informed by the local media about the unethical conduct of my opponent, which was brought to their attention by my campaign. This information should have been investigated and brought to light, especially in a time when transparency is absolutely essential.” 

Pacheco, a native New Mexican, formerly served as an officer in the Albuquerque Police Department for 27 years, was the president for two years of the Albuquerque Police Department, and was the state representative in New Mexico House District 23 for two terms, serving from 2013 to 2017. 

Pacheco’s campaign writes on his official website, “As sheriff, Paul Pacheco will be a strong advocate for changing the laws that have allowed [emboldened] criminals to evade the criminal justice system for too long, and finally take back the community for our families and loved ones.” 

Former Rep. Pacheco is endorsed by the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association, the Albuquerque Journal, the Fraternal Order of Police, retired Bernalillo County Sheriff Sal Baragiola, and multiple former Albuquerque Police chiefs, among other public officials.