Albuquerque firefighters accused of rape to be released with GPS monitors

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Three Albuquerque firefighters have been charged with rape.

Aden Heymen, Antony Martin, and Angel Portillo went before a judge Wednesday. They are accused of sexually assaulting a woman at one of their homes in July.

All three men were Albuquerque Fire Rescue firefighters at the time – Martin is now retired.

In court Wednesday, the state first argued that Heymen exploited his authority and preyed on the woman. They pointed to the criminal complaint, which states he “orchestrated much of what happened” and instructed the other men on how to sexually assault her.

“We do have one of the individuals that was younger that did head the directions of the defendant,” said Lisa Roybal, prosecutor. “That the defendant did orchestrate to keep this a secret, to not tell anybody, and to attempt to reach out to a family member of the named victim.”

Meanwhile, Heymen’s defense argued they were all simply allegations and there were several inconsistencies in the victim’s statements.

“He cooperated with APD, he turned over a DNA sample, then turned over his phone,” said Jason Bowles, attorney for Haymen. “I sent several messages to the APD officer that we will send a statement – Mr. Haymen wants to give his side of what happened. They just rushed right to a charge, did an arrest warrant, and had him locked up even though we were cooperating.”

Ultimately, the judge decided that Heyman was a danger to the victim and the integrity of the case, but not the community. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim or codefendants, and also has a curfew in place.

“He is not to be released until GPS is available through pretrial services or through that private company,” Judge Britt Baca-Miller said.

Martin’s hearing was next, and the state presented a similar argument.

“All of these defendants did communicate and conspire with each other following this incident,” Roybal said. “We do have evidence at this early stage that they were communicating about what occurred. We have phone calls immediately preceding the moment when the victim escaped from this house and called for help.”

Martin’s defense challenged the state, saying that communicating does not mean there was consciousness of guilt. He argued that Martin has been a career fireman in good standing.

“If a defendant might not be able to follow official directives, then they may indeed be dangerous but a lifetime of service for the fire department suggests otherwise,” said Ben Ortega, defense attorney. “Mr. Martin is capable of following directives and this is evidence that weighs heavily in his favor that he can abide by conditions of release.”

Judge Baca-Miller said Martin was not the lead conspirator in the case and therefore did not need a curfew. He will be released under similar circumstances and pending a GPS monitor.

Portillo faced a judge Wednesday afternoon. In the criminal complaint, the victim in this case stated that she “hooked up” with Portillo before she was raped by the three men.

The state opened up the hearing by addressing that line in the complaint, saying that she never stated she had consensual sex with the defendant.

The defense, on the other hand, said the victim changed her statements. The defense also said Portillo was not involved in any conversations the codefendants had after the incident, and for those reasons, he does not pose a threat to the investigation or the community.

Portillo will also be released, pending a GPS monitor by pretrial services.