New Mexico detective convicted of helping drug trafficker evade DEA operations

A former sheriff’s detective in New Mexico has been convicted of using confidential information to warn a drug trafficker about planned Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) operations and then lying to the FBI, according to federal prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors announced the conviction Tuesday. A jury in Albuquerque found 36-year-old Paul Jessen Jr. guilty on July 10 of conspiracy to obstruct justice, two counts of obstruction and making a false statement after a five-day trial.

Jessen Jr. and fellow Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office detective Kyle Linker recruited a known drug trafficker to serve as a confidential informant in July 2021, according to evidence presented at trial.

Four months later, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent told Linker about an operation planned near the informant’s home. Linker warned the informant, who moved one drug deal to another location and canceled a second deal.

Prosecutors said Jessen encouraged Linker to interfere with DEA investigations because the two detectives believed the federal agency was taking targets away from them. In one exchange, Linker joked about having the informant warn another drug trafficker.

“Do it!” Jessen responded.

After Jessen received information about another DEA operation in December 2021, Linker warned the informant that a drug trafficker would likely be targeted the following week. Phone records led DEA agents to suspect that information was being leaked.

Agents later searched the informant’s home and found more than 470 grams of methamphetamine, fentanyl pills and a firearm. The informant admitted that Linker had previously warned him about a DEA operation.

Investigators then told Linker about a planned controlled drug purchase and specifically ordered him not to contact the informant. Linker immediately told the informant to call him and warned that he was “on DEA’s radar,” instructing him to have someone else deliver the drugs.

Jessen later told Linker to warn the informant not to sell drugs to anyone and to stay at a hotel or another person’s home. Prosecutors said Linker also used Jessen’s phone to contact the informant in an attempt to conceal the source of the warning.

During a later meeting, Jessen searched the informant for a recording device and warned him against cooperating with the DEA. When questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in January 2022, Jessen denied knowing about any inappropriate conduct between Linker and the informant.

Jessen faces up to 65 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

Linker previously pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to 30 days in prison followed by seven months of location monitoring.