Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal
The city has agreed to pay $400,000 to a former Albuquerque Police Department official who threatened to sue the city but never actually filed his case in court.
The city is characterizing it as the latest in a string of settlements tied to former APD Chief Michael Geier’s time leading the department.
The settlement between the city and John Ross – who served as Geier’s chief of staff – comes about two years after a former APD executive assistant accused Ross of several instances of misconduct. In a July 2020 letter to Geier, Paulette Diaz alleged Ross received a raise and made various purchases – including a laptop computer – without the proper approvals.
Geier subsequently ordered an Internal Affairs investigation into Ross. It found no major infractions, an APD spokesman said in 2020.
Geier was appointed by Mayor Tim Keller, serving as police chief from 2017 until Keller forced him to resign in September 2020.
As part of Geier’s appointed executive team, Ross’ job was tied to Geier’s and he had to leave at the same time, according to an APD spokesman.
Ross’ legal counsel earlier this year threatened the city with a lawsuit, saying Ross had been the subject of false allegations made by Geier and Diaz and that the city had not responded to an earlier request for Ross to get his job back.
The letter from attorney Levi Monagle to then-City Attorney Esteban Aguilar Jr. included a draft lawsuit alleging that the city had violated the...
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