Sheriff sergeant faces perjury allegation

TAOS — The 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, based in San Juan County, is investigating whether a Taos County sheriff ’s sergeant lied about circumstances surrounding the September arrest of a former Taos Pueblo police officer on suspicion of DWI.

The perjury investigation into Sgt. Gilbert Atencio of the Taos County Sheriff ’s Office comes after a referral from the District Attorney’s Office in Taos.

Atencio had stopped former Officer Patrick Winters for speeding along N.M. 68 around 2:30 a.m. Sept. 2, according to a statement of probable cause. Winters spoke with a slur, had watery, bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol, Atencio wrote, adding that Winters also failed three field sobriety tests.

After being placed under arrest, Atencio said in the statement, Winters “refused to submit to a chemical sample of his breath,” which led to a charge of aggravated drunken driving.

According to a letter from the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Taos, however, Atencio’s allegation that Winters had refused the test is not supported by video captured by a body camera the deputy wore during the arrest.

According to court records, the charges have been dismissed against Winters, who could not be reached for comment on the case. According to online court records, there is no case pending against him. Efforts to reach Taos Tribal Police Chief Gary Lefthand also were unsuccessful.

Charges have not yet been filed against Atencio pertaining to the perjury investigation — the second to open in recent years against a sergeant at the Taos County Sheriff ’s Office.

In March, Sgt. Ricky M. Romero, who ran for sheriff in 2014, was charged with one count of Medicaid fraud, 10 counts of perjury and 10 counts of falsification of documents, crimes Romero is accused of committing between April 2012 and September 2013.

Romero was placed on paid administrative leave after the charges came down. He is tentatively scheduled to appear for trial April 16 in the state District Court in Taos.

Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe has declined to comment on either investigation, citing both as internal “personnel matters.” Miles Conway, a spokesman for the New Mexico branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, defended Atencio. “We have full faith and trust in Sgt. Atencio,” Conway said in an interview with The Taos News. “He has a 17-year unblemished record, with 14 years in New Mexico. He’s never done anything to dishonor the badge.”

A version of this story first appeared in The Taos News, a sister publication of The Santa Fe New Mexican.