Defending Colorado Identity Theft and Financial Exploitation Charges
October 27, 2026
If you are facing drug charges in Colorado, you have several options when putting together your defense. Which strategy to use will depend upon the facts of your specific situation – something a knowledgeable criminal lawyer will be able to help you with.
That being said, knowing the various potential defenses that may be able to help you can be valuable. Because of that, in this post we are going to cover a number of common defenses to drug charges [...]
The biggest drug kingpin under the FBI’s watch is Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, former leader of the Sinaloa cartel. During his time as kingpin, he likely ran the world’s largest drug smuggling operation. Even though he is equally notorious for his ability to escape from prison, the United States is confident that they’ve now got him for good. Guzman currently faces 17 federal criminal counts, and if convicted, will be sentenced to life in prison.
Why no death penalty? When [...]
At the beginning of this year, President Obama started a conversation about the consequences of the War on Drugs by commuting a record-breaking number of low-level drug offenders. Many of these offenders were put away for decades on drug trafficking charges when the powers that be believed that the only answer to our drug epidemic was incredibly harsh penalties.
The country is changing, though. More and more states are decriminalizing or even legalizing marijuana in one form or another. The [...]
Even though marijuana was only legalized here a few years ago, it has already had a huge impact. Lots of new businesses are setting up shop in Colorado to legally cash in. Taxes from marijuana sales have bolstered our state’s coffers. Arrests for marijuana are down significantly. Even drugged driving arrests related to marijuana have decreased slightly.
But there’s potentially an even bigger impact where drug trafficking is concerned. How so? The effect is two-fold, and whether it’s good or [...]
Drug trafficking is illegal no matter where you are. But with the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, it’s easier than ever to ship marijuana somewhere else and reap the financial benefits.
Illegal drug traffickers are using Colorado as a safe haven for growing marijuana in regulated pot farms and warehouses, then discreetly sending it to other places where traffickers can make an excellent profit.
One instance of drug trafficking had an owner of a skydiving company filling his planes with [...]
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, [...]