Colleen Heild

Albuquerque

Investigative Reporter at Albuquerque Journal

Investigative reporter

Articles

Former APD sergeant pleads guilty in bribery scheme

4 days ago | yahoo.com | Colleen Heild

Jun. 23—A former Albuquerque Police Department sergeant has pleaded guilty to taking cash payments in exchange for missing court hearings in DWI cases. In one case, former APD Sgt. Louis A. Henckel III accepted money to skip the trial of DWI offender who was the girlfriend of another DWI officer involved in the bribery and extortion scheme, according to court documents filed Monday.
Former APD sergeant pleads guilty in bribery scheme

4 days ago | abqjournal.com | Colleen Heild

A former Albuquerque Police Department sergeant has pleaded guilty to taking cash payments in exchange for missing court hearings in DWI cases. In one case, former APD Sgt. Louis A. Henckel III accepted money to skip the trial of DWI offender who was the girlfriend of another DWI officer involved in the bribery and extortion scheme, according to court documents filed Monday. kAmw6?4<6= :D E96 D6G6?E9 7@C>6C p!s @77:46C E@ A=625 8F:=EJ 2D E96 uqx :?G6DE:82E:@?
Federal prosecutors score first wins on New Mexico military border zone trespass cases

1 week ago | stripes.com | Colleen Heild

U.S. soldiers, from 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, assigned to Joint Task Force — Southern Border, conduct a patrol of the southern border near Santa Teresa, N.M., April 13, 2025.
Federal prosecutors score first wins on NM border trespass cases

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Colleen Heild

Jun. 19—The first two migrants convicted of trespassing into the so-called New Mexico National Defense Area this month should have known better. The two Mexican nationals had previously faced the same "novel" immigration-related trespassing charges just a month ago when they illegally crossed into the U.S. and were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol in Doña Ana County.
AG's office investigating Gallup DA for possible removal

1 week ago | abqjournal.com | Colleen Heild

State Attorney General Raúl Torrez's office is investigating the conduct of Gallup's embattled district attorney after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham requested his office initiate proceedings to remove the prosecutor from office. Correspondence reviewed by the Journal shows Lujan Grisham last week formally requested the New Mexico Department of Justice "promptly consider" initiating a removal action against Bernadine Martin, the McKinley County district attorney.
Federal prosecutors score first wins on NM border trespass cases

1 week ago | abqjournal.com | Colleen Heild

The first two migrants convicted of trespassing into the so-called New Mexico National Defense Area this month should have known better. The two Mexican nationals had previously faced the same "novel" immigration-related trespassing charges just a month ago when they illegally crossed into the U.S. and were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol in Doña Ana County. kAmqFE =:<6 5@K6?D @7 @E96CD 42F89E :? E96 %CF>A 25>:?:DEC2E:@?VD ?6H D@FE96C?
Random Rail Runner attack leads to $700,000 settlement

1 week ago | abqjournal.com | Colleen Heild

Time seemed to stop as Felipe Sanchez fended off a knife-wielding stranger on a Rail Runner Express commuter train traveling to Santa Fe in March 2022. On the floor of the #1008 train car, Sanchez punched, kicked and pushed back as he was stabbed a dozen times for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. kAmQxE D66>65 E@ 92G6 8@?6 @? 7@C6G6C[Q E96 e_\J62C\@=5 $2?496K E@=5 E96 y@FC?2= C646?E=J] Qx H2D 7:89E:?8 7@C >J =:76]Qk^AmkAm%96 @?=J C6=:67 42>6 H96? 2? F?2C>65 EC2:?
City's independent watchdog to be replaced as several reports remain under wraps

2 weeks ago | abqjournal.com | Colleen Heild

The city of Albuquerque’s inspector general is out of a job after months of conflict with an oversight committee that has yet to make public six completed investigations into alleged misconduct or malfeasance at City Hall. The city’s Accountability in Government Oversight Committee put Inspector General Melissa Santistevan on administrative leave with pay on May 13 after deciding not to recommend she be retained for another four years.
Sheriff blasts story on lawsuit surrounding alleged cash seizure from 2024

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Colleen Heild

Jun. 6—Call it the case of the missing $450,000. There's plenty of finger pointing, a purported piece of evidence, and lots of questions that remained unanswered Friday. Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen issued a blistering news release Friday, denouncing a Santa Fe newspaper's decision to publish a story about a newly filed federal lawsuit.
Jury rejects border military trespassing charge

3 weeks ago | abqjournal.com | Colleen Heild

In two words, an El Paso jury on Thursday rendered a blow to the Trump administration's new attempt to charge migrants with additional crimes for crossing illegally into the U.S. at the Texas and New Mexico international borders. The "not guilty" verdict in U.S. Magistrate Court in El Paso came in the case of a Peruvian woman charged with the petty misdemeanor of entering restricted military property when she crossed into the U.S. on May 12 west of Tornillo, Texas.