Rosalinda Hurtado

John Joseph Lerma, 42, of Albuquerque and Rosalinda Hurtado, 38, of Alcalde are facing a total of 54 charges in some 17 cases originating in Los Alamos Magistrate Court and now in First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe. Lerma and Hurtado were reportedly in a romantic relationship when they allegedly committed multiple crimes including check fraud, identity theft, forgery, fraud, and fraudulent use of credit cards, against Los Alamos residents of all ages from high school students to the elderly.

John Joseph Lerma

LAPD records indicate that more than $20,000 was stolen from local residents by Lerma and Hurtado with most of the money allegedly being taken as a result of checks, credit cards, and debit cards stolen by Hurtado when her home medical care job gave her access to homes. Although the LAPD incident/investigation reports on the alleged crimes are heavily redacted, they indicate that most of the victims were in poor health, had serious medical conditions or were unable to take care of themselves. Lerma and Hurtado are also accused of taking wallets from backpacks belonging to athletes during high school practices and using their bank cards fraudulently.

Los Alamos Police Department Criminal Investigations and Patrol Divisions began investigating the crimes last August and put together a profile linking all the cases. On Aug. 27, 2016, Lerma and Hurtado were apprehended on a traffic stop in Los Alamos. Evidence found by LAPD helped solve several open cases for other law enforcement agencies including Taos Sheriff’s Office, Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, Santa Fe Police Department and New Mexico State Police.

LAPD records reflect hundreds of hours spent on the cases by LAPD personnel especially Det. Sgt. James, Rodriguez, Det. Matt Lyon, Det. Ryan Wolking, Sgt. Tim Lonz, Cpl. James Keane, Cpl. Sheldon Simpson and Cpl. Jemuel Montoya.

Lerma had a nationwide warrant from Bernalillo County when he was arrested. It appears from New Mexico Court records that he has had charges for fraud and forgery dating back to 1994 and fraudulent use of a credit card in 2010.  He was bound over to District Court by Magistrate Judge Pat Casados in November 2016 on 11 counts: Three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud over $2,500, conspiracy to commit fraud over $500, three counts of theft of identity, receiving stolen property over $500, theft of a credit card, conspiracy to commit theft of a credit card and attempt to commit fraud over $2,500. District court records indicate Lerma was arraigned in December 2016 and is presently scheduled for trial in October.

Lerma and Hurtado were finally arrested August 27, 2016, when Sgt. Tim Lonz was dispatched to the area of the Los Alamos National Bank regarding two individuals in a silver-colored Kia Soul attempting to cash a forged and fraudulent check. By the time officers arrived, the vehicle had left so Cpl. Jemuel Montoya went to the Los Alamos County line on East Road to attempt to get ahead of the suspects if they attempted to drive down the main hill.

Montoya spotted the vehicle and made a traffic stop. Both Hurtado and Lerma were placed in handcuffs and placed in the back of the patrol vehicle. Hurtado allegedly advised Montoya that is was her vehicle and she would not give officers permission to search it.

Lonz’s report states that in plain view there appeared to be evidence pertaining to the alleged fraud, so the vehicle was sealed and towed to the LAPD impound lot to be secured until a search warrant was issued.

Lerma allegedly first identified himself as Leon Martinez, but Lonz told Lerma he knew his name and that he had a nationwide extraditable warrant from Bernalillo County. Lerma allegedly used a birth certificate with the name Leon Martinez as identification. He was transported to the Los Alamos Detention Center County Justice Center where he was searched but was allegedly able to hide three grams of methamphetamines. He allegedly went to the bathroom and attempted to flush the methamphetamines down the toilet before he was stopped by detention officers resulting in charges of possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence.

Hurtado was placed in Cpl. James Keane’s vehicle and transported to the Los Alamos Justice Center for further investigation. After Lonz told Lerma that LAPD had him on video at LANB, Lerma alleged told Lonz he and Hurtado were in Los Alamos to attempt to cash a fraudulent and altered check. Lerma allegedly told Lonz that he and Hurtado didn’t think it was going to work which is why they left before they received any money. Lerma allegedly stated he found the check in Espanola and thought it was a good check.

Lonz’s report states that he explained to Lerma that LAPD knew about other incidents involving checks and asked him if he would be more honest about the incident.  Lerma allegedly said he had been just trying to survive and allegedly acknowledged that Hurtado got the checks through her work as a homecare provider and that they have been cashing checks for some time. 

Lonz asked Lerma about the birth certificate he had tried to use that belonged to Leon Martinez. Lerma allegedly first stated that he had stolen the birth certificate from Hurtado but Lonz said it was later admitted that Hurtado stole her ex-husband`s birth certificate and gave it to Lerma in order to conceal his identification from law enforcement. Lonz’s report indicates Lerma admitted to doing at least 10 checks at different banks throughout Santa Fe and Los Alamos. Lerma allegedly told Lonz several times that he was going to take the wrap for Hurtado and did not want to implicate her in any crimes.

Montoya asked Lerma about a temporary New Mexico Identification that was found in his wallet with the name of Gerd J Kunde with Lerma’s photo on it. Lerma allegedly agreed it was his photo and that he had the ID made through someone on the internet.

Hurtado has waived her preliminary hearings in Magistrate Court May 11 on 10 cases in which she is has 43 charges as follows: 11 counts of theft of identification, eight counts of forgery $2,500-$20,000, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud over $2,500, three counts of attempting to commit fraud over $2,500, two counts of theft of a credit card, three counts of fraud over $2,500, two counts of fraud $500 to $2,500, three counts of attempted fraud over $2,500, four counts of receiving stolen property under $250, two counts of receiving stolen property $500-$2,500, one count of dealing in a credit card of another, one count of conspiracy to commit theft of a credit card, one count of fraudulent use of a credit card by fraudulent representation $500-$2,500 and one count of conspiracy of theft of identification.