May 15--Federal prosecutors want former Albuquerque police officer Brad Ahrensfield locked up for violating the court-ordered terms of his release while his appeal of his obstruction of justice conviction is pending.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Neda asked U.S. District Judge James Parker to issue an arrest warrant for Ahrensfield because he "has committed various offenses while on release pending appeal."
Prosecutors alleged in court filings that Ahrensfield, after he was sentenced, possessed several firearms while working for a licensed private investigator; demanded payment of back wages in exchange for returning files belonging to the private investigator; and attempted to persuade an APD officer not to testify in a DWI case.
According to documents attached to the motion, witnesses were interviewed by the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and APD Internal Affairs.
Ahrensfield's attorney, Jason Bowles, said, "No criminal charges have been filed, just a lot of hearsay statements."
Ahrensfield appealed his conviction claiming the government withheld evidence favorable to the defense. Prosecutors are fighting the appeal and deny any evidence was withheld.
According to the motion to revoke Ahrensfield's release, there is some question about whether Ahrensfield is allowed to have firearms while his appeal is pending.
Ahrensfield was sentenced this past September by Parker to six months and a day in jail and six months of house arrest, after a federal jury convicted him of tipping off a civilian friend whose business was under investigation by an APD and FBI task force.
After he was charged in 2009, a U.S. magistrate judge allowed Ahrensfield to keep his firearms pending trial.
Ahrensfield was convicted on one count after a second trial last year.
At sentencing this past September, Parker instructed Ahrensfield that he was not to possess any firearms -- an instruction included in the formal judgment and sentence signed by Parker.
But an order setting Ahrensfield's conditions of release pending appeal issued last October doesn't bar him from possessing firearms.
In Monday's court filing prosecutors said they are reviewing whether that "clerical error" may have any effect on any future prosecution of federal gun laws.
The government motion alleges that Ahrensfield's behavior in the DWI case reveals "the defendant's propensity for taking matters into his own hands regardless of the law."
Ahrensfield allegedly tried to persuade an Albuquerque police officer not to testify at a hearing on a drunk driving case and threatened a lawsuit if the officer testified, according to the motion. The officer appeared at the hearing and testified and later received a text message from Ahrensfield telling him a lawsuit was coming, prosecutors say.
Copyright 2012 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
