S.F. detective pleads guilty

Ramirez likely faces six months or less in prison for one felony count of theft

Jason Auslander | The New Mexican

1/23/2008 - 1/24/08

When former Santa Fe police Detective Danny Ramirez searched Peter Valdez's home in 2006, he found $10,000 under a mattress and left half of it in a bundle there, telling Valdez the money was for his grandparents.

Valdez's grandparents later gave the money to a friend of their grandson's, who used it to hire a lawyer to defend Valdez against a charge of marijuana trafficking.

On Tuesday, Ramirez, 48, pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft of $5,000 from the city of Santa Fe and the city's Police Department. Though the charge dictates a prison term of up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors agreed not to object to a sentence that likely will be six months or less in prison, said Jason Bowles, Ramirez's attorney.

Bowles said he interprets the plea agreement to mean Ramirez is taking responsibility for leaving the $5,000 for Valdez, which he should have seized on behalf of the Police Department. However, prosecutors disputed that Wednesday. "The plea agreement leaves it open" for interpretation, Norm Cairns, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Albuquerque, said.

In the original indictment detailing the charges against Ramirez, an FBI agent wrote that more than $180,000 was seized from Valdez's home and car during the bust in May 2006, but between $23,350 and $30,000 was missing. The detectives also seized about 10 pounds of high-grade marijuana and 14 grams of cocaine from Valdez's home and car.

Ramirez accepted the deal because he'd already admitted to leaving the $5,000 for Valdez's grandparents, which almost certainly violated the law, Bowles said. The former detective is the only parent of a 10-year-old and likely would have been sentenced to prison if he'd been found guilty after a trial, the attorney said.

"(Prosecutors) get a felony conviction, and Danny gets to move on," Bowles said.

The remaining 17 counts in the indictment — charging money laundering and deprivation of civil rights — will be dismissed after Ramirez is sentenced April 17, according to the plea deal and Bowles. The deal calls for Ramirez to spend three years on probation.

The plea deal does not, however, require Ramirez to testify at the trial of Sgt. Steve Altonji — who was indicted on similar charges at the same time as Ramirez. Bowles said that doesn't mean Ramirez won't be subpoenaed, though Ramirez will likely plead the Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination if that happens.

Altonji, the former head of the department's burglary/narcotics unit, still faces one count of theft, two counts of deprivation of civil rights and one count of money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and prosecutor Reeve Swainston told the judge in the case Tuesday that he expects Altonji's case to go to trial, Cairns said.

Santa Fe Police Chief Eric Johnson declined to comment on Ramirez's plea. He did confirm, however, that a new round of federal subpoenas was delivered to the Police Department last week, including one for him. Those subpoenas were canceled Tuesday, Johnson said.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.