Former Ohkay Owingeh Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of Justice

ALBUQUERQUE - A former Ohkay Owingeh Police Department officer has pleaded guilty to using his position to disclose sensitive information about a federal investigation.

According to court documents, on February 26, 2020, Justin Aguino, 31, a former police officer with the Ohkay Owingeh Police Department, placed a phone call to an individual and disclosed that a person that individual was in contact with was cooperating with federal authorities. Aguino made these statements to alert the individual to the person's status as an informant, knowing that such disclosure could interfere with an ongoing federal investigation involving Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration. When confronted by FBI agents in 2022, Aguino denied sharing this information.

Aguino was released on conditions pending trial on July 6, 2023, but failed to appear for a child support hearing in August 2024, prompting a tribal bench warrant, and then violated his release conditions by failing to maintain contact with Pretrial Services. After the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office offered a reward for information leading to his capture, Aguino was arrested on the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo on November 26, 2025, and was subsequently detained pending trial.

Aguino pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and faces up to 15 months in prison at sentencing.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The Santa Fe Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Region III Drug Enforcement Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito is prosecuting the case.