A former Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office lieutenant and unsuccessful candidate for sheriff claims in a federal lawsuit that he was unfairly dragged into an internal-affairs investigation and publicly defamed.

While he was serving as a lieutenant, Manuel Valdez announced plans to run for sheriff in the 2010 elections. Shortly after the announcement, however, Valdez was accused of warning a man that officers conducting a warrant roundup were headed to his home. News reports of the incident were published, followed by an internal investigation that found cause to discipline Valdez. However, he appealed the discipline and the charges against him were dismissed, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court this month.

Nonetheless, Valdez accuses the former sheriff and deputies of conspiring to keep him from holding public office. He also claims that his reputation was defamed in the Rio Grande Sun; that there was an abuse of process; that he was maliciously prosecuted; and that the state Peace Officer's Employer-Employee Relations Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act and the Inspection of Public Records Act were violated.

According to the complaint, the lawsuit stems from a July 6, 2009, warrant roundup. A law-enforcement team went to Joseph and Josephine Rendon's home in Velarde, looking for Joseph's brother, Julian Rendon, 39, who was wanted on an arrest warrant charging him with failing to follow court orders after pleading guilty to DWI in 2005. The complaint states that Josephine Rendon, after sending the deputies to Julian Rendon's home in Española, called Joseph Rendon to alert him about the situation. Joseph Rendon then called his brother and "advised him to be ready and to cooperate with them," says the complaint. "Joseph Rendon ended his call with Julian by stating that he would call ... Valdez."

Joseph Rendon failed to reach Valdez but left a message, the complaint says.

However, it says, on the way to booking, an intoxicated Julian Rendon told the deputies that "Valdez was a friend and that he had told Julian that the police officers were on the way to his house."

Adam Archuleta, one of the deputies, made a note via a radio log that Valdez "called male to warn him they are coming," says the complaint.

The complaint says Julian Rendon, who has had a brain hemorrhage, seizures, anxiety and memory problems, later said he did not remember telling the officers that Valdez had called him.

Days after Julian Rendon's arrest, the complaint says, Archuleta told a Sun reporter that the log entry involved a "big officer safety issue." On July 16, 2009, the weekly newspaper published a story about the incident with the headline "Wanted Man Claims Sheriff's Lieutenant Alerted Him of Warrant Sweep."

A week later, the Sun story and a letter from Josephine and Joseph Rendon, which appeared in the newspaper, caused the case "to be litigated in the court of public opinion before any formal charges had been leveled," the complaint says.

On Aug. 3, 2009, the complaints says, then-Sheriff Joe M. Mascareñas assigned Lt. Marcos Armijo to conduct an internal-affairs investigation into the incident.

Valdez's complaint says that because he outranked Armijo, Armijo should not have been assigned to conduct the investigation, according to department policies. The complaint says in the course of the investigation, a Rio Arriba County magistrate subpoenaed Verizon Wireless to release logs for calls made on Valdez's cellphone -- although subpoenas are not used in internal-affairs investigations.

On Jan. 6, 2010, Mascareñas imposed discipline on Valdez "based upon a belief that Lt. Manuel Valdez had not been truthful in his answers," says the complaint. It says Valdez appealed, and a grievance hearing was held before Peggy Nelson, a former state judge in Taos, who found the county failed to sustain its burden of proof. She dismissed the charges against Valdez.

The federal complaint, filed Jan. 3 by Albuquerque lawyers Charles Lakins and Alvin Garcia, seeks compensatory, punitive and statutory damages from Rio Arriba County, the sheriff's office, Mascareñas, Archuleta and Armijo. It claims Valdez was deprived of his constitutional rights "to express opinions about the operation of governmental entities and to run for elective office."

A spokesman for Sheriff Tommy Rodella, who won the 2010 election to succeed Mascareñas, declined comment. Lakins said Valdez subsequently retired from the county sheriff's office but still lives in Española.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.