Ricardo Mendez, a defendant in the 2024 DWI enterprise case, returned to court for the first time since pleading guilty last year, with his attorney addressing questions about his international travel and upcoming sentencing.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
Ricardo Mendez appeared in court for the first time since early last year, when he pleaded guilty to his role in the 2024 DWI enterprise, as questions about his international travel and sentencing timeline were discussed.
After a judge granted Mendez permission to leave the country in February 2025, his whereabouts have been unknown. Mendez’s attorney, Wayne Baker, said Mendez had filed a motion to travel internationally.
“He had a need to go somewhere for a relative, and he returned,” Baker said.
However, Baker claimed he does not know where Mendez went.
A Target 7 investigation uncovered the DWI enterprise, revealing that officers and deputies from the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police allegedly pulled over suspected drunk drivers and referred them to attorney Thomas Clear, whom Mendez worked for. Clear and Mendez allegedly promised offenders that any charges would disappear if they paid Clear thousands of dollars. The money was then reportedly split among Clear, Mendez and the officers.
“I’m sure, like all the defendants, they are anxious and concerned about what the ultimate result of the case will be for each individual defendant,” Baker said.
During the hearing, Baker requested a sentencing date for July of next year, citing the need for nearly eight months to review what prosecutors described as a “voluminous” amount of discovery. However, the judge set a sentencing date for May in an effort to expedite the legal process.
“Personally, I would like more time because of my calendar,” Baker said. “That being said, we will comply with whatever the court needs, and we’ll go forward then.”
Baker declined to comment on what Mendez’s sentencing outcome might be.
“Unless you do a guidelines analysis, which you can’t do at this time, and I can’t, then you can’t really speculate on what his possible sentence is going to be,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thomas Clear, the attorney at the center of the scandal, does not yet have a finalized sentencing date. His last court hearing was in June of this year.
