Magistrate candidate Eric Montano won’t comment on allegations

A Los Lunas attorney has filed a complaint with the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission, alleging a Valencia County magistrate judge candidate lied about his criminal and job history, and participated in improper campaigning and soliciting.

On July 14, Greg Gaudette, who has practiced law in Valencia County for nearly 30 years, filed a complaint with the commission in regards to Republican Eric Montano, the candidate who made it out on top of a four-way battle for his party’s nomination for the Division III magistrate seat.

In his complaint, Gaudette discloses he was the treasurer for Andrew Owen, another Republican primary candidate for the Division III magistrate seat who lost to Montano by only 80 votes.

“I have known of Eric Montano over the years as a law enforcement officer. I knew he bounced between law enforcement agencies in Valencia County,” Gaudette wrote in his complaint.

Using the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, Gaudette dug into Montano’s employment history, as well as publicly available court records about misdemeanor charges against him from 2006.

After filing the complaint and providing the commission with the extensive records he had obtained through IPRA, Gaudette provided copies of his complaint and those same records to the Valencia County News-Bulletin.

When contacted, Montano said he was made aware of the complaint against him by John Brennan, chairman of the Republican Party of Valencia County, but as of Thursday, Aug. 20, had not been contacted by anyone representing the Judicial Standards Commission.

“I haven’t been contacted by the commission. There are no findings against me,” Montano said. “I respect the commission’s process, whatever that is ... I will fully cooperate with the commission if they reach out. I don’t want to debate this in the public eye.”

Montano said he didn’t want to comment on the complaint, “especially since I’ve not been contacted by the commission. I’m not going to legitimize it.”

At the time of this publication, the commission has not made a determination on the complaint. In a letter acknowledging the receipt of Gaudette’s complaint, commission executive director Phyllis Dominguez indicates the complaint will be provided to members of the commission “for consideration at a future meeting.”

There is no information in Dominguez’ letter about when that meeting will happen nor is a timeline for possible action by the commission indicated. She notes if the commission dismisses the complaint or closes it after making a “non-disciplinary disposition,” Gaudette will be advised.

If the commission petitions the New Mexico Supreme Court “for the discipline, removal or involuntary retirement of a justice or judge” Gaudette will be advised when the matter becomes public, and “copies of the pleadings and orders will be available to (Gaudette) and others ...,” the letter reads.

In his complaint, Gaudette notes Montano, as well as all other magistrate judge candidates, received a letter from the administrative office of the courts outlining the pertinent code of judicial conduct.

The attorney alleges Montano violated three of those rules of conduct — making false statements, solicitation and campaigning for other non-judicial candidates.

Three misdemeanor charges

Gaudette contends the candidate lied about his criminal history on two separate occasions during the Republican primary period.

In the run up to the election, the News-Bulletin reached out to candidates, asking them to answer a set of questions for publication. Some of the questions, across all races and candidates, are identical.

One of those questions this year was, “Have you ever been arrested, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony offenses in New Mexico or any other state? If so, explain.”

Montano answered “no” to that question, which was published in the May 7 edition of the News-Bulletin in its “Get to Know Your Candidate” feature.

According to Gaudette’s complaint, that response “is a lie ... Mr. Montano was charged in Valencia County ... for Domestic Violence ...”

In the documents provided by Gaudette, submitted was a “register of actions” from a 2006 criminal case, state of New Mexico vs Eric Montano, case No. M-59-MR-2006-00534. The case shows three misdemeanor charges of battery of a household member against Montano, one in December 2005 and two in October of 2006.

Additionally, Gaudette provided a three-page fax from Los Lunas attorney David Chavez, the attorney who represented Montano in the 2006 case, which was sent to former Belen Police Chief Mike Chavez in April 2008. The fax was the stipulated order of dismissal from Montano’s case, indicating the case would be dismissed without prejudice — meaning the case may be refiled — so long as there were no new charges brought against Montano in the six months after the dismissal.

The fax was provided to BPD when Montano applied for a job with the department in 2008.

“Clearly, Eric Montano lied when he answered in the negative the public forum question: Have you ever been arrested, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony offense. Mr. Montano was charged with a misdemeanor (offense) of battery against a household member,” Gaudette wrote in his complaint.

Terminations on record

Gaudette also claims Montano lied about his job history during a live candidate forum hosted by the News-Bulletin on May 28. Forum moderator News-Bulletin Editor Clara Garcia asked Montano and all other candidates present at the forum, “Have you ever been terminated from a job or asked to resign in lieu of termination?”

Montano’s response was, “No.”

Public records from the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus show Montano was terminated while working as a police officer for the campus in 2015.

“This is to advise you that I am relieving you from employment during the probationary period effective immediately,” reads a June 22, 2015, letter from then UNM-Valencia Sgt. Richard Guzman.

According to paperwork from Montano’s personnel file with the university, he started on June 23, 2014, and was fired on the day his probationary period ended, June 22, 2015.

As is common on job applications, the UNM-Valencia position asked about previous jobs and reasons for leaving them. Montano indicated he worked for the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office from November 2009 to May 2010, and his reason for leaving was “separation during probation.”

When Gaudette submitted an IPRA request to Valencia County for Montano’s employment records, he was told the county had no record of him being employed with the county.

Valencia County Human Resources Director Orlando Montoya said Montano’s employment records unfortunately fall into a group of public records that were damaged in storage several years ago, and have since been destroyed, as allowed by state statute.

“We had a lot of records stored on the second floor of the county administration building. There were issues with a leaky roof and asbestos was present up there,” Montoya said. “Unfortunately, a lot of records were severely damaged and we could not digitize and archive them due to asbestos contamination before they were destroyed. It was many years of records that this happened to.”

A notice of destruction from June 2020 provided to the News-Bulletin by Montoya indicates personnel files from Jan. 1, 1990, to Dec. 31, 2018, were authorized for destruction, along with other records including payroll, accounts payable, inmate files from the Valencia County Detention Center and public records requests.

However, Gaudette located a former VCSO supervisor of Montano’s and obtained a sworn affidavit about his separation from the county. In the affidavit Abe Henson recounts Montano was “dismissed as a deputy by (former) Sheriff Rene Rivera.” Henson was asked to meet Montano to collect department equipment he still had in his possession.

“Eric Montano asked me ... if I knew why sheriff Rivera had let him go,” Henson attested in the affidavit. “I advised him I did not know the reason ...”

Montano’s application with UNM-Valencia also indicates he was terminated in 2013 from a fuel tech position with Savage QRS, a refueling company that services BNSF Railroad. His explanation for leaving that position reads, “terminated after first incident with tractor/trailer high centered and minor damage to brackets connected to trailer.”

Possible campaign, fundraising violations

Gaudette also alleges Montano campaigned with non-judicial candidates and directly solicited funds for himself and non-judicial candidates by participating in a “Grill the Candidate” fundraiser held on April 25.

The attorney claims Montano’s campaign manager, Krista Williams, organized a fundraiser event that Montano participated in, along with non-judicial candidates.

“In essence, she organized an event that citizens/voters/attendees could attend a ‘cook off’ or other food tasting event. The attendees purchased tickets to enter the event. The attendee could then ‘vote’ with the admission ticket by placing their ticket in a candidate bucket,” Gaudette writes in the complaint. “At the end of the event the candidates redeemed their collected tickets for the cash value of the ticket.”

He claims Montano participated with other non-judicial candidates in the fundraiser and directly solicited funds for financial support of his campaign.

In an email from Williams breaking down the details of the “Grill the Candidate” event, it is noted Niagara Water would provide water for free for candidates and attendees.

“Was this an in-kind contribution? Was it reported? Did Eric Montano report money collected at the Grill the Candidate event?” Gaudette wrote. “In conclusion, in my opinion, Mr. Montano has not been truthful in his campaigning ... Mr. Montano has deceived the public, violated the canons of judicial conduct and should be held accountable.”

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Ethics complaint filed against candidate