Ex-Clovis cop surrenders

A former Clovis police officer charged with drug trafficking and as an accessory to residential burglary turned himself in to authorities on Friday.

Frank Careri, 34, under criminal investigation since February 2023, was charged July 26. Since he was out of state at the time, prosecutors gave him until Friday to turn himself in.

Court records show Careri was booked into the Curry County Detention Center and released on a personal recognizance bond.

Careri waived his opportunity for a preliminary hearing and arraignment. No court date was immediately scheduled.

An affidavit for arrest warrant in Clovis’ magistrate court shows Careri is accused of crimes dating to July 25, 2021. The investigation against him began in February 2023 when a burglary suspect said “she knew some information about a cop who was providing her with information and drugs.”

Careri’s attorney, Dan Lindsey of Clovis, declined to comment on the allegations against his client.

An internal city memo shows Clovis Police Chief Roy Rice agreed to let Careri resign his position in March 2023 in exchange for not sending results of the department’s internal affairs review “up the chain of command for further review.”

In an interview on Friday, Rice said that meant he agreed Clovis PD staff sergeants, lieutenants, captains, Deputy Chief Trevor Thron and Rice himself would not have access to the internal affairs report unless it became public. He said that did not stop the criminal investigation, which he said continued.

The internal memo, which Rice provided to The News, also states police would continue investigating the criminal case against Careri “to see if there was any evidence to warrant filing a complaint.”

After discussion with District Attorney Quentin Ray and police Capt. Robert Telles, the memo dated April 25, 2023, continues, “their opinion was that there was not enough evidence to get a conviction. … All we would end up doing would be placing the department and profession in a situation to either prove the profession unethical or get an acquittal and allow Careri to come back to work at CPD. The case at hand wasn’t serious enough to cause the problem so it was determined to leave the resignation as voluntary with no admission of misconduct allegations.”

Police said last month their criminal investigation had stalled when the informant became “unavailable for further interviews, causing a delay in the timeliness and completion of this investigation.”

That informant – Alexandra Romero – has since been accused of murder in an unrelated incident. She awaits trial in the homicide case in which she has pleaded not guilty, saying she killed a longtime stalker who broke into her home and threatened her.

DA Ray said the criminal investigation against Careri was stalled for only a month before he asked prosecutors in Tucumcari to look at the case against Careri in April 2023.

Officials have not made clear why it took more than a year for charges to be brought.

Andrea Reeb, the former DA in Clovis, was ultimately appointed as a special prosecutor in the spring of this year. Through her investigation an arrest warrant was obtained charging Careri with trafficking, harboring or aiding a felon, accessory to residential burglary, conspiracy to residential burglary and providing confidential information to Romero.

When Romero first made her allegations against Careri, in February 2023, she said they’d been in a relationship “for quite some time,” court records show.

Romero told investigators “she and Officer Careri would exchange nude photographs of each other in exchange for information.”

Records also show:

• Careri alerted Romero in July 2021 that a warrant had been filed against her in connection with an alleged fraudulent use of a credit card. Romero alleged Careri gave her multiple rides in his patrol car after that but the warrant against her was not served until June 2022 by another police officer.

• Romero said Careri provided her with information multiple times from the internal police records management system.

• Romero alleged Careri provided her with “some drugs on one occasion.”

• On July 25, 2022, Careri told Romero about a recent arrest and let her know the house where the arrests had occurred would be empty. “That same night (the residence on East 12th Street) was broken into and a refrigerator was stolen.”

“Alexandra then admitted by text to breaking into the residence, and told Careri she was going back for the AC units, and beds among other items. … This burglary was reported to the police department … well after the incident was reported to Careri by Alexandra…,” records show.