Defending Colorado Identity Theft and Financial Exploitation Charges
October 27, 2026
Colorado sees a lot of car thefts in a year – and the numbers continue to climb.
This has led lawmakers to reconsider how car theft is penalized here. Currently, how much a car is worth will inform the penalty for the crime upon conviction.
However, lawmakers are now fighting to change the sentencing structure for this crime. They want to enhance the penalties related to car theft that don’t take the vehicle’s value into account. Their reasoning? This property [...]
Two car thieves could face increased charges for allegedly injuring a man who tried to stop them in the act. What happened?
A man was sitting outside his home in the Colorado Springs area when two individuals allegedly entered his garage to steal his vehicle. When the two individuals reportedly started to drive the vehicle away, the owner jumped on the back to try to stop the theft. He was dragged for a few hundred yards before falling off and [...]
Here’s a lesson you hopefully don’t need us to teach you: do not drive a stolen car to court after being accused of car theft.
Sounds obvious, right? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what a Connecticut man did earlier this month.
Jonathan Rivera, 25, was scheduled to appear in court on charges of first-degree larceny and tampering with a vehicle. He showed up for his court appearance in a 2014 Subaru Legacy.
When he arrived, parking authority agents scanned the license plates [...]
Defending against Colorado identity theft and financial exploitation charges often begins with a close look at what prosecutors can actually prove about knowledge, intent, permission, authority, and the movement or use of money and identifying information.
Colorado identity theft can be charged as a class 4 felony, while criminal exploitation of an at-risk person involving $500 or more can be charged as a class 3 felony. Related allegations may also involve possession of financial devices, gathering identity information by deception, [...]
There is no single statute of limitations that applies to every Colorado sexual assault or sex crime allegation. Depending on the exact charge, the alleged victim’s age, when the conduct allegedly occurred, whether DNA evidence identifies a suspect, when the offense was reported, and whether the accused spent time outside Colorado, prosecutors may have 20 years, a different statutory period, or no time limit at all.
Those distinctions matter most when an allegation surfaces years or even decades after the [...]
Extradition is about where a criminal case will be handled—not whether the person is guilty. If someone is arrested in Colorado on another state’s warrant, the immediate questions are usually whether to waive extradition, whether bail is available, how long the process may take, and what can actually be challenged before the person is returned.
The same issue can run in the other direction. A person may be arrested in another state because Colorado issued the warrant. In that situation, [...]