Crime

Two Mountain View police officers indicted over alleged defrauding of CDOT grants

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. – Two Mountain View police officers have been indicted over allegations they falsified field reports and time cards in order to get paid thousands of extra dollars in grant money from the state.

Leonard Portugal, 47, and Ricardo Hernandez, 43, face a combined 35 counts in the indictment, including attempting to influence a public servant, forgery, embezzlement of public property and theft.

The indictment alleges that the two officers utilized Mountain View’s ability to receive grants from CDOT for traffic enforcement in the small home rule municipality near Lakeside and Wheat Ridge to pocket the money by making false timecard reports.

Since Mountain View is so small, it receives three grants via CDOT in order to pay overtime to officers for doing patrol work in the town.

Portugal was in charge of applying for the grants, organizing officers to work the extra shifts and reporting the required stats back to CDOT.

The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office says each officer in the department was required to tally his or her grant-funded overtime and report it to the police chief, who would pass the sheets on to Portugal to compile. But it says that the documentation sometimes bypassed the chief and went straight to Portugal.

The indictments claim that between January 2015 and June 2016, Portugal was paid out $24,935 in grant-funded overtime money that he didn’t earn. He allegedly submitted at least 31 false field activity reports and time sheets.

Hernandez allegedly falsified his overtime hours and was paid out $2,735 he wasn’t afforded.

Both men turned themselves in to the Jefferson County jail on Wednesday and had their bonds set at $10,000.


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Investigators retrieve marijuana plants from Coal Creek Canyon home where 3 were killed

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – Investigators on Wednesday removed several marijuana plants from the home in Coal Creek Canyon where three people were found murdered over the weekend.

Boulder County officials said they could not release the information on how many plants were retrieved from the home or if they came from a legal grow operation, but had said at the onset of the investigation that it had to call in hazmat teams to clear the house because there was evidence of drug activity near the victims’ bodies.

The three were identified earlier this week as 54-year-old Wallace White and 56-year-old Kelly Sloat-White, both of Golden, and 39-year-old Emory Fraker, of Broomfield.

The crime scene was discovered early Saturday when a friend of the White family called deputies to perform a welfare check, and saw two bodies inside the home.

And while investigators have said they can’t release many details amid the ongoing investigation, they told Denver7 Wednesday they are still interviewing witnesses and analyzing evidence found at the scene.

They also told Denver7 that there were no calls for service to the home, which sits in the 800 block of Divide View Drive, over the past three years that the county’s records go back.

Authorities have yet to release any information about any potential suspects or a motive in the case. It’s unclear if federal drug authorities are involved at this time.


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Aurora mother of 4 scheduled for deportation had been caught twice before, ICE says

DENVER – A new report shows immigration arrests rose by 32.6 percent in the first few weeks of the Trump administration as another Denver-area woman living in the country illegally faces deportation herself.

Last Friday, Denver7 reported that Maria de Jesus Jimenez-Sanchez, a mother of four living in Aurora, saw her request for a stay of deportation denied and was scheduled to be deported.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok told Denver7 late Friday that Jimenez-Sanchez, whose real name is Karen Araujo-Jimenez, had indeed been denied her latest request for stay.

Rusnok said that Jimenez-Sanchez first entered the U.S. illegally in October 1999. ICE says that she was immediately confronted by federal agents and voluntarily returned to Mexico the same day.

She was then caught posing as another person while trying to enter the U.S. in Douglas, Arizona in May 2001, according to Rusnok, and was again deported immediately.

Jimenez-Sanchez’s lawyer, Jennifer Kain-Rios, said that her client had lived in Aurora since 1999.

ICE confirmed that Jimenez-Sanchez was taken into ICE custody again in December 2012. That lines up with the timeline Kain-Rios gave, in which she said Jimenez-Sanchez was pulled over and cited for driving without a license.

She spent six months in ICE custody. In May 2013, according to ICE, an immigration judge upheld a previous removal order for her and ordered her to be deported by the Department of Homeland Security.

But she had been granted a one-year stay of deportation a month earlier. The stays were extended for another year in May 2014, March 2015 and March 2016, Rusnok said, but her latest stay request was denied March 14 of this year.

She was picked up in Centennial Wednesday when she showed up for her routine immigration check-in despite knowing her stay had been denied, her lawyer says.

Her case is the third high-profile case involving women scheduled to be deported out of the Denver area. Jeanette Vizguerra and Ingrid LaTorre are both in sanctuary at Denver-area churches to stave off their deportations.

The cases come amid an increased effort by immigration officials under the Trump administration to deport people living in the country illegally no matter if they’ve been convicted of a violent crime or not.

In a story published by The Washington Post Sunday, the Post found that ICE arrested 21,362 undocumented immigrants from January through mid-March, compared to 16,104 during the same time period in 2016 – an increase of 32.6 percent.

The Post also found that the number of people arrested with no criminal records doubled, though almost three quarters of those arrested did have criminal records (an increase of 15 percent year-over-year).

And Rusnok noted Friday that anyone in violation of immigration laws is subject to arrest and possible deportation. He also noted that from FY 2012-16, between 41 and 45 percent of undocumented immigrants removed from the U.S. had no prior criminal convictions.


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Investigation continues this week into Coal Creek Canyon triple murder

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – The investigation into the murders of three people at a home in Coal Creek Canyon over the weekend is ongoing Monday as authorities try and figure out why the three people were killed.

The three people – 54-year-old Wallace White and 56-year-old Kelly Sloat-White, both of Golden, and 39-year-old Emory Fraker, of Broomfield – all were found dead Saturday morning in a home in the 800 block of Divide View Drive.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says all three bodies showed signs of having traumatic injuries and has ruled out murder-suicide in the case. The sheriff’s office said Saturday that it believes the three were specifically targeted and that there isn’t believed to be a threat to the public.

“Additional information about why investigators believe the residence was specifically targeted and other specific investigative information cannot be provided at this time,” the sheriff’s office said.

The crime scene was discovered early Saturday when a friend of the White family called deputies to perform a welfare check, and saw two bodies inside the home.

But deputies said there was evidence of drug activity near the bodies, so hazmat teams were called in and searched the home for much of Saturday, eventually finding no chemicals or hazardous materials inside.

But when investigators finally searched the home, they found the third body.

Neighbors of the home, which sits about 100 feet back from the road in a wooded area, said the Whites kept mostly to themselves and had large, friendly dogs that roamed the neighborhood.

Boulder County authorities said late Sunday that its deputies would continue the investigation this week, that it would likely be “lengthy” and that “not much, if any” information would be released “to maintain [the investigation’s] integrity.”

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who has information on the case to call its tip line at 303-441-3674 or by emailing the office here.

People can also submit anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-TIPS.


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Grand Junction boy, 12, charged after threat to do ‘recreation…of Columbine’

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – A 12-year-old Orchard Mesa Middle School student faces felony charges after he allegedly made plans to “do a re-creation of the Columbine shooting,” police say.

The boy apparently told another student of his plan to carry out a shooting at the school in coming days, who told their parent. The parent passed the alleged threat on to Grand Junction police Thursday evening.

Police went to the boy’s home, where they interviewed him and took him into custody.

The boy, who has not been named, faces felony menacing charges and a class 1 misdemeanor charge of interfering with staff, faculty, or students of an education institution.

The Grand Junction Police Department says the investigation into the alleged threat is “very active” and ongoing, and said its officers plan to interview more people about the alleged threat in coming days.

The school was in session as normal Friday, but police said there were additional officers at the school “out of an abundance of caution.”

The police department commended the student who reported the threat to his parent.

“We’re grateful for this student’s courage and willingness to speak up and be an advocate for the safety of students and staff,” the department said. “We encourage all parents and guardians to work towards an open, honest dialog with their kids, so students feel safe disclosing information that needs the intervention of an adult.”


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Jewish teen arrested in Israel for JCC threats linked to threats at Boulder Jewish center

BOULDER, Colo. – A Jewish teenager arrested last month in Israel who is accused of making bomb threats to more than 100 Jewish community centers across the country has also been linked to the two threats made at Boulder’s Jewish center in recent months, police said Friday.

Boulder Police spokeswoman Laurie Ogden confirmed that the 18-year-old, who has still not been publicly identified, is believed to have made the threats to Boulder’s Jewish Community Centers on both Jan. 31 and March 8. But she told the Boulder Daily Camera “there is nothing concrete” with the investigation so far. Continue reading

Undocumented Aurora mother of 4 detained for deportation by ICE after years of compliance: lawyer

DENVER – An undocumented woman from Aurora with a single conviction for driving without a license is set to be deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after she was detained Wednesday in Centennial, according to her lawyer.

Maria de Jesus Jimenez Sanchez is a mother of four, including a developmentally-disabled daughter, and has lived in Aurora since 1999, according to her lawyer, Lakewood attorney Jennifer Kain-Rios.

Though Jimenez Sanchez received a deportation order in 2001, according to Kain-Rios, she was able to stay in the country.

In 2012, Jimenez Sanchez was pulled over and cited for driving without a license, after which she spent six months in detention by immigration officials, according to her attorney. Colorado now allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

But Jimenez Sanchez was granted a stay of removal, which has been renewed for the past four years because of her’s daughters condition, until she learned that the most recent request for a stay had been denied last month. She was picked up in Centennial Wednesday when she showed up for her routine immigration check-in despite knowing her stay had been denied, her lawyer says.

“Maria de Jesus complied with her check in appointment yesterday because she hoped that ICE would restrain itself, considering her good-faith efforts to comply with her Order of Supervision,” Kain-Rios said. “Maria de Jesus asked for the assistance of Rep. Coffman and Sen. Bennet’s offices to obtain a meaningful explanation, but only received curt and opaque responses from ICE.”

Kain-Rios says when they spoke with Coffman, he said that enforcement policies had changed under the new administration.

Jimenez Sanchez went to the meeting because she and her attorney had asked for an appeal of her stay’s rejection and they thought they would get an explanation for its denial, Kain-Rios told Denver7.

Kain-Rios says Jimenez Sanchez has four children: the 15-year-old developmentally-disabled daughter, and three other children aged 7, 8 and 19.

“[Jimenez Sanchez] has a critical meeting regarding her daughter’s education plan next week she needs to attend,” Kain-Rios said. “She wants to stay so she can continue to take care of her children.”

When reached for comment Thursday, an ICE spokesman told Denver7 he did not have information on the case readily available.

The children of another Denver-area undocumented woman, Jeanette Vizguerra, sent off for Washington Wednesday to protest ICE immigration enforcement actions, which the Department of Homeland Security has vowed to enforce more-strictly under the new administration.

Vizguerra and another Denver-area woman have sought sanctuary at local churches, as both are scheduled to be deported. Vizguerra’s situation is similar to Jimenez Sanchez’s as both saw their stays of deportation denied after several years of seamless compliance.

Nearly all of Colorado’s law enforcement agencies say they are in compliance with federal immigration rules.


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Investigators search Pueblo home, yard for new clues in missing pregnant Denver woman’s case

PUEBLO, Colo. – A missing persons case involving a pregnant Denver woman who went missing four years ago in Pueblo thawed Thursday, as local and state investigators searched a Pueblo home for clues relating to her disappearance.

Detectives with the Pueblo Police Department and investigators with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at a home in the 5100 block of Manor Ridge Drive at 8 a.m. Thursday to try and find anything new in the case involving Kelsie Schelling’s disappearance.

The home used to be occupied by Donthe Lucas, who was Schelling’s boyfriend and the father of her unborn child and has long been considered a suspect in the case. But he has never been convicted of any charges relating to Schelling’s disappearance.

Around a dozen detectives and investigators combed through the backyard of the home, placing flags and digging up portions of the yard, “looking for evidence that may help in the investigation, which is ongoing,” police said.

Schelling was 21 years old and eight weeks pregnant when she vanished on Feb. 4, 2013. She had her first doctor’s visit and had seen a sonogram of her baby earlier that day.

After the trip to the doctor and a shift at work, the Denver woman drove two hours south to Pueblo to visit Lucas, and has never been seen since.

Lucas was found to have parked her car at an area Walmart the day after she disappeared, and an unidentified man picked it up and eventually dropped it off again at the St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center. Police recovered the vehicle Feb. 7.

Schelling was never seen in surveillance video at either location.

Investigators discovered through text messages that Schelling and Lucas had talked to one another once she had reached Pueblo, but the messages stopped shortly after she got there.

Lucas was at one point arrested on felony identity theft and misdemeanor theft charges for allegedly using Schelling’s debit card to withdraw $400 at a bank on Feb. 5 of that year.

He was named as a primary person of interest in Schelling’s disappearance, but the charges relating to his alleged use of her credit card were eventually dropped.

Schelling’s mother and other family members have long believed Lucas is somehow involved in her disappearance, and have continued to plead with CBI for answers.

“I think Kelsie’s case is very solvable. I think it should’ve been solved a long time before now, and we’re not giving up…there will be a resolution to this,” Schelling’s mother, Laura Saxton, told Denver7 when we covered Schelling’s case for Project Unsolved in February.

CBI was brought in by Pueblo police fairly recently to assist in the case.

CBI Director Michael Rankin told Denver7 in February that when his team is brought in, they re-examine and scrutinize the evidence and details collected in the case so far.

“I think that the starting point [is] let’s take a look at, first of all, what happened? What do we know? What’s been done to further that investigation, and then, where can the CBI plug in to further advance the investigation and hopefully the prosecution as well,” Rankin said.

Schelling’s family has long offered a reward for information leading investigators to their daughter or to an arrest and conviction of someone in her disappearance – upping the reward to $100,000 in February and organizing a Colorado Missing Persons Day event at the state Capitol on Feb. 3

Pueblo police say the investigation into the case remains ongoing and that they are looking for tips related to the case. To submit anonymous tips in the case, contact Pueblo Crime Stoppers at 542-STOP or go to their website.

You can also contact the Colorado Bureau of Investigation at 303-239-4300. Saxton has also created a website dedicated to helping find her daughter.

Colorado sheriffs pleased with ICE’s suspension of ‘erroneous’ weekly ‘sanctuary city’ report

DENVER – The Denver Sheriff Department is welcoming the decision by federal immigration officials to stop publishing a controversial weekly report targeting jurisdictions deemed “uncooperative” with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started releasing the report in late March, but it quickly drew backlash from law enforcement agencies and various cities and counties around the country that said the report contained erroneous information. So-called “sanctuary cities” have been targeted under the new administration and threatened with the loss of federal funding. Continue reading

Amid allegations of unpaid taxes, neo-Nazism, and sex offender, Denver furry convention canceled

DENVER – Fur is flying between different sects of a niche community of Coloradans over allegations of neo-Nazism, unpaid taxes and fake legal threats that has led to the cancellation of the popular annual “furry” convention in Denver.

The journey down the furry wormhole started with a tweet Monday night from JJ MacNab, a Forbes writer who covers anti-government extremism. Continue reading