Former Albuquerque police officer pleads no contest to shoplifting charges

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – While Albuquerque police crackdown on rampant shoplifting city wide, a now former Albuquerque Police Department Officer has pled to charges tied to swapping out price tags.

Vanessa Santillanes was an APD officer for a decade. Now, she’ll spend the next six months on probation. “Miss Santillanes has no previous criminal convictions of any kind. She poses no danger to the community. This was an isolated aberrant act that she is truly remorseful for, and she’s prepared to pay restitution,” said Brian Pori, Defense Attorney for Santillanes.

In an agreement with prosecutors to avoid trial, Santillanes pled “no contest” to two counts of misdemeanor shoplifting. She was arrested late last year, after being caught on camera and accused of stealing from two Albuquerque Target stores.

Investigators say she got away with nearly $160 worth of beauty products and shoes across four different dates. Police say Santillanes swapped out price tags of expensive items with cheaper items like plastic cups.

Wednesday, Santillanes’ attorney did all the talking for her. “I know the court can’t make a commitment to what would happen in the future, but it is our intention first for Miss Santillanes to serve any probationary period without any violations and any offenses. And then upon the success of completion of that deferred or suspended sentence whatever the court may impose, we will be seeking to have this case dismissed,” said Pori.

Neither the state nor Santillanes got the sentence they hoped for. Prosecutors wanted six months of supervised probation. At the same time, the defense asked for just 90 days of unsupervised probation.

Magistrate Court Judge Maria Dominguez gave Santillanes a deferred sentence with no jail time and six months of unsupervised probation. Santillanes resigned from APD in January. She’ll have to pay Target nearly $160 and she is not allowed to go back to any of their stores.