Two Jal Police Department Officers and One Former Jal Police Department Officer Charged with Deprivation of Rights

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced that Corey Patrick Saffell, Ceasar Enrique Mendoza, and Robert Edward Embly, aka Eddie, made initial appearances in federal court on an indictment charging them with two counts each of the deprivation of rights. Saffell, 34, of Jal, Mendoza, 28, and Embly, 43, both of Hobbs, will remain in custody pending detention hearings, which have been scheduled for Jan. 29, 2024.

According to the indictment, between July 30 and July 31, 2021,  Saffell, Mendoza, and Embly were employed as police officers with the Jal Police Department in Lea County when they allegedly violated John Doe’s constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable seizure by a law enforcement officer, including the right to be free from an unlawful arrest and the right to be free from unreasonable use of force by a law enforcement officer. The officers conduct resulted in bodily injury to John Doe and included the use of a dangerous weapon.

An indictment is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, all three men face up to 10 years in prison.

The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Hobbs Police Department, Carlsbad Police Department, Lea County Sheriff’s Office, Jal Police Department, and New Mexico State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matilda McCarthy Villalobos is prosecuting the case.

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