"Thank you for helping ENDWI," says a poster that the New Mexico Department of Transportation produced as part of its long-running campaign against drunk driving. The poster features a photograph of New Mexico State Police (NMSP) Sgt. Toby LaFave, an award-winning, record-setting officer who was "the face of DWI enforcement" for the NMSP, appearing in anti-DWI billboards and videos because he was celebrated for his dogged efforts to protect public safety by nabbing intoxicated drivers.
Last Friday, NMSP Chief Troy Weisler revealed that LaFave had been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation triggered by a huge corruption scandal involving cops who took bribes in exchange for making DWI cases disappear. According to federal prosecutors and Thomas Clear, the Albuquerque defense attorney at the center of the scandal, the corruption goes back decades and involved "many officers." While most of the crooked cops served in the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) unit charged with apprehending drunk drivers, where corruption was pervasive, Clear says he also bribed employees of the NMSP and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office.
LaFave's alleged participation in what prosecutors call the "DWI Enterprise" underlines the question of how the conspiracy, which was uncovered by an FBI investigation that became public in January 2024, went undetected for so long. For at least two dozen years, Clear says, he routinely paid cops to help his clients avoid prosecution and keep their driver's licenses. His collaborators did that either by refraining from filing DWI charges or by deliberately missing pretrial interviews, hearings, or trials, allowing Clear to move for dismissal.
