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Copyright © 2016 Albuquerque Journal

Jeremy Romero is perhaps best-known to the public as the Corrales police officer who was nearly paralyzed from the waist down in an on-duty crash that occurred in 2014 while he was chasing a stolen car.

But back in 2011, he was a rookie undercover investigator with the state Department of Public Safety in Albuquerque – an eager young officer whose lawyer says was destined for a great career in law enforcement.

His “dream job” was cut short when Romero was fired not long after reporting a fellow officer for allegedly cavorting with prostitutes.

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Newly unsealed records show Romero last year won $900,000 from the state to settle a whistleblower lawsuit he filed against DPS over his termination.

“It’s a significant amount of money,” his attorney, Rachel Higgins, said Monday. “But it can’t change anything that happened.”

“His life is inexorably changed,” Higgins said, calling Romero’s injuries “catastrophic.”

“However, what’s true of him, and I think always will be, is that he is a public servant at the end of the day.”

Romero is fitted with $70,000 worth of exoskeleton robotics that give him limited ability to walk and led to his nickname of Robocop.

Romero now volunteers as a reserve officer for the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. He couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

“He continues to work as hard as he can to regain his physical capacity, and that, in and of itself, is more than a full-time job,” Higgins said.

DPS officials denied any wrongdoing.

“Retaliation is unacceptable – and not tolerated – at the Department of Public Safety,” said Herman Lovato, DPS spokesman, in an email response to Journal questions on Monday.

Prostitute settlement

Romero’s settlement brings the total payout in legal claims associated with the alleged improper conduct by former DPS agent Timothy Carlson to $1.2 million, including a $300,000 settlement paid by the state in 2014 to an ex-prostitute who contended she was forced to perform sexual acts on Carlson.

And Carlson?

He was arrested by Albuquerque police in March 2012 – six months after Romero’s firing – on two counts of felony criminal sexual penetration, extortion and demanding or receiving a bribe.

The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office dropped the charges two months later, but a spokesman for the office said Monday the office has two cases against Carlson that are still considered “open.”

On Monday, Carlson’s attorney Robert Gorence told the Journal, “I assumed but obviously was never told by anyone at the DA’s Office, that a dismissal, followed by four years of inactivity, meant they didn’t think there was a case to pursue. From the investigation that was done by my office, I would concur.”

All gone from DPS

Carlson was fired by the DPS.

Fred Jasler, Romero’s former immediate supervisor at the Special Investigations Division, now works as a bureau chief for the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, which trains police recruits. Jasler didn’t return a request for comment Monday.

But according to Romero’s lawsuit, Jasler dismissed Romero’s concerns about Carlson when Romero first reported seeing him with a woman who appeared to be a prostitute. At the time, Carlson was tasked with enforcement of liquor control and related issues.

Jasler reportedly called Carlson “the area’s best agent” and told Romero, “I don’t want you getting involved in any (expletive),” according to the whistleblower lawsuit.

On a subsequent patrol, Romero again saw Carlson in a similar area of town, again with a woman Romero thought appeared to be a prostitute.

Concerned that the agent was engaging in illegal activities, Romero reported that sighting to Jasler, the lawsuit alleged.

“Defendant Jasler responded, ‘I really think you aren’t going to last around here. You are really starting to stir up (expletive).'”

Later, according to the lawsuit, Carlson made it clear he had heard about Romero’s inquiries with Jasler and was displeased, calling him a “pussy” for making the report.

Romero’s lawsuit said he discovered he needed to take a training class before using a firearm Jasler had assigned him. After Romero notified Jasler, Jasler became irritated and responded, “Why did you tell? You know what – your days are numbered.”

After two months on the job, Romero wanted to transfer to the SID in Santa Fe, but Jasler denied it, the lawsuit alleged. Three days later Romero was terminated.

Carlson investigated

Meanwhile, Carlson had already been on the Albuquerque Police Department’s radar.

In the spring of 2011, months before Romero’s firing, two members of APD’s gang unit pulled over Carlson in his state-issued pickup truck after witnessing him pick up a woman standing at Moon and Central. The woman told the officers she and Carlson had not yet arranged for any exchange of money for sex.

According to a police report, the APD officers had to leave suddenly to help another officer who was involved in a vehicle pursuit.

In March 2012, APD detectives received tips about Carlson, and they launched an investigation that included a search of his undercover DPS vehicle.

Theresa Hasci, an attorney whose firm of Kennedy, Kennedy & Ives represented the ex-prostitute in her lawsuit, said discovery in the case showed APD had a confession from Carlson, physical evidence from the undercover DPS vehicle, and an undercover recording of Carlson with a prostitute.

But Hasci said most of the evidence was missing from APD when the law firm requested it for the ex-prostitute’s lawsuit.

“All that’s left are the pictures of the car. They had nothing. It was frustrating,” Hasci said.

She said the discovery also showed Carlson told a DPS superior that “he had actually been pulled over by APD officers in the past with a woman they suspected of being a prostitute and they let him go because, he said, they ‘don’t burn blue.’ ”

Higgins, Romero’s lawyer, said that if her client had not been terminated by DPS, “he would have done that (undercover) job until he was able to retire with honors. He really thought when he reported what he saw, what he believed to be an improper act by a colleague, that somebody would care to investigate. I don’t think he could have ever imagined the response that he got.”

Higgins added: “They operated, we believe in Mr. Carlson’s case, above the law, outside of the law, and despite the law.”