SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The woman accused of leading Santa Fe Police on a wrong-way chase down I-25, causing a crash that killed an officer and retired firefighter, then lying about being kidnapped, pleaded guilty on Monday for two other cases. In one of those cases, she gave police a similar made-up story.
Six months before the deadly chase in March, Jeannine Jaramillo led Cibola County deputies on a wrong-way chase in a stolen car. At the time, she told deputies she was being held against her will at knifepoint.
“Then he got up and he put it to my neck and he told me to. He told me that he was going to kill me if I tried to stop again because I tried to stop sir,” Jaramillo had said to officers, captured in their lapel videos of the incident.
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She claimed she was with a kidnapper who ran off wearing a red shirt and black jeans. It’s the same description as she gave Santa Fe Police in March. On Monday, Jaramillo pleaded guilty to aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer in that first case as well as a second case involving a stolen car in October 2021.
As part of the plea agreement for the two cases, Jaramillo got 18 months in prision. She is given credit for the 105 days already served. The court also encouraged her to take substance abuse counseling while in prison.
In the Santa Fe case, Jaramillo is facing murder charges for the deaths of SFPD Officer Robert Duran and retired Las Vegas firefighter Frank Lovato. She’s also charged with giving a false report to police. A trial date has not been set.