Editor's Note: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that Crusoe Gongbay and SaQwan Edwards were kicked off the team and lost their scholarships. In fact, they were only indefinitely suspended in light of the allegations, did not lost their scholarships, and were reinstated to the program following the charges against them being dropped over the summer of 2014.
This story has been amended to reflect that correction. The Daily Lobo regrets the error and will continue to work diligently to prevent future inaccuracies.
New evidence has surfaced that suggests possible misconduct during the UNMPD investigation into a 2014 case alleging that two former UNM football players and a third man raped a fellow student.
George Anthony Bleus, the attorney currently representing former CNM student Ryan Ruff along former UNM students and Lobos football players Crusoe Gongbay and SaQwan Edwards in a lawsuit against the University, has alleged that the investigation was mishandled.
“The only way this (information) came out is because someone forgot to hit the stop button on the recording,” Bleus said.
Bleus was referring to recordings from a meeting on April 25, 2014 at UNMPD headquarters, at which a DNA sample was taken from Edwards. In attendance were Edwards’ then-attorney Paul Kennedy, UNMPD Detective Guadalupe Guevara, UNMPD Lieutenant Trace Russell Peck, and at least one other unidentified UNMPD officer.
The recordings were obtained via an Inspection of Public Records Act request filed by Bleus’ law firm.
It appears that the officers believed that the tape recorder had stopped recording. Guevara can be heard on the recording after Edwards and Kennedy leave the room.
“It’s all Crusoe, it’s none of these other guys, you know. But if we can put them all together, especially Crusoe. If Crusoe’s got several charges over his head, that guy’s going to sing like a bird,” Guevara can be heard saying in the recording. “I already know it.”
In response, Peck replied, “I got your back.”
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According to UNM spokesperson Dianne Anderson, the University later became aware of the conversation between the officers involved, and disciplinary action was taken against them following an internal investigation.
Guevara and Peck are currently still employed at UNMPD.
In the audio, Guevara discusses the high-profile case against the three men, of which he was the lead investigator.
“I’ve always wanted that – I’ve always wanted that big f---ing case with high, big-dollar attorney stuff. Let’s get in the f---ing ring and get it on,” Guevara said. “This is going to be my biggest case I’ve ever done. I’ve had some big cases. This is going to rival it. This is going to be my Everest, and my last. I’m going to insist that I get pulled off this f---ing rotation.”
Bleus said it is important to note that the officers speaking are a sergeant and a lieutenant, high ranking positions.
“This isn’t just underlings of the Academy or something. These are seasoned officers with high titles,” Bleus said. “It’s so hard to believe, it sounds like some fiction.”
Bleus called the evidence presented in the recordings a “travesty,” and what was said a “crock of s---.”
“This is the investigating officer, the lead investigator and his cohorts that are supposed to be conducting an unbiased investigation of a sexual assault,” he said. “This is not mere speculation or conjecture; this is now evidence, out of the mouth of those that were charged with investigating this case.”
An unidentified officer can be heard saying in the audio, “You guys are just trying to railroad these guys, man.” Another unidentified UNMPD officer replies, “Yeah, well, we made him get Paul Kennedy, right? That’s how we do it ‘round here.”
The officers can later be heard making crude remarks about collecting Edwards’ DNA sample.
Bleus said on Thursday he has conducted this investigation with “the fervor and the manpower of seven officers collectively,” which was necessary to bring this evidence to light.
“I did it knowing that, with anything in this world, the devil is in the details,” he said, “and if you’re mindful of the details, here we are.”
Bleus said he looks forward to putting Guevara’s “feet to the fire” in a deposition he plans to conduct with the officers.
“He hasn’t had his reckoning yet,” he said. “But he will.”
The case began in February 2014 when student Courtney Spencer reported being kidnapped and raped at gunpoint by Gongbay and Edwards, who were both UNM football players at the time, as well as by Ruff, a former CNM student.
Gongbay and Edwards were subsequently suspended indefinitely from team activities in light of the allegations. They were both reinstated to the team in August, 2014 after the charges were dropped that summer, and played that season.
The lawsuit against the University was filed by Bleus on April 12, 2016 in the 2nd Judicial District Court. Spencer filed a lawsuit of her own, claiming that UNM failed to follow Title IX procedures. Spencer’s case is still pending.
“Most people at a university want to believe that they are safe, they are being protected by good and professional people, who are unbiased and will look for evidence, but at the end of the day protect them,” Bleus said. “That’s not what’s going on. You got a bunch of jerks here, that could care less about three young guys going to jail for 20 to 30 years, just so they could be on the news.”
Anderson said University administration has had little time to react to the latest developments.
“The University plans to vigorously defend the lawsuit. We stand by our police department’s investigation,” she said.
In April, the U.S. Department of Justice released the findings of its in-depth investigation into how UNM handles sexual assault cases. The report was highly critical of the University’s procedures, and made several recommendations about how UNM could fix the problems. It is unclear whether the DOJ investigators were made aware of the incident in question.
Bleus said if UNM loses the lawsuit it will cost the University millions.
“They’re going to lose millions of dollars in federal funding if the Department of Justice finds that they don’t investigate sexual assaults properly. Their police officers are incompetent,” Bleus said. “That black mark UNM thought they erased, it’s always been a black mark — it should’ve never been erased.”
In a case like this, Bleus said he is reminded that the truth can be found in unusual ways.
“This is justice, that someone forgot to hit the button and they were talking and giving their true sense of things, unfiltered, because they didn’t think anyone was listening,” he said. “Thank God they didn’t hit the stop button.”
Matthew Reisen is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @MrMojoReisen. Jonathan Baca and David Lynch contributed to this report. They can be reached at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or editorinchief@dailylobo.com, respectively.
