Colorado COCCA Charges: How Racketeering Cases Are Built and Defended
August 18, 2026
If you’re convicted of a sex crime, one of the consequences of that crime usually involves having to register as a sex offender. Every state, along with our federal government, has a sex offender registry, but one court has found that a sex offender registry is unconstitutional.
That court is right here in our state. A federal judge in Denver recently ruled that having to register as a sex offender violated the Eighth Amendment rights of three plaintiffs. More specifically, [...]
In our state, if you’re convicted of a sexual offense, you are required to register as a sex offender for five, 10, or 20 years – up to life.
What happens, however, when you’ve completed your registration period?
Your first thought is probably that you no longer have to continue to register. Because that makes logical sense. Unfortunately, that thought would be wrong.
Discontinuing your registration doesn’t automatically happen. You actually have to petition the Colorado court and ask them [...]
If you are the parent of teenagers, you’ve probably heard all kinds of things about the dangers of sexting. If you are a young single adult, you’ve probably heard horror stories from friends or peers about sexts gone wrong.
Even if nude images are originally shared between consenting teenagers or adults, a bad breakup could lead to the image being sent out into the world in an instant. Widespread sexts have led to traumatic cases of bullying and big scandals [...]
Whether the offender is a teenage boy or a fully grown adult, no one likes a Peeping Tom. The term is a silly name for someone who “peeps” into the windows of homes, either by using binoculars from a distance, or by getting up close and personal.
Usually, but not always, the Peeping Tom has criminal or sex-related intentions, so peeping is quick to make people inside the home uncomfortable. For someone who decides to peep, though, there are far [...]
Our country needs a lesson on sexual assault.
College campuses around the nation are awash in controversy over allegations, accusations, and a “rape culture.” Regardless of whether the incidents actually occurred, our President-elect has openly bragged about committing sexual assault, and has been accused by multiple women.
As a response to all the media coverage, we are starting to hold universities accountable for how they handle sexual assault cases, and moving forward with ways to prevent and safely report it. [...]
Colorado COCCA charges are racketeering charges used when prosecutors claim a person participated in an enterprise through a pattern of criminal activity. These cases often grow out of drug, theft, burglary, fraud, identity theft, or financial investigations that are later reframed as organized conduct.
A COCCA count is not automatic just because several people were charged together or because prosecutors believe more than one crime occurred. The state must prove specific structural elements, including an enterprise and a pattern of [...]
Most criminal cases in Denver do not end with a jury verdict. They end with a decision: whether to accept a plea agreement, reject the offer, keep negotiating, or prepare for trial. That decision can shape your record, your freedom, your sentence, your probation terms, and your future long after the court date.
A plea bargain is not just “taking a deal.” It is a legal agreement that may involve reduced charges, dismissed counts, sentencing limits, probation terms, restitution, treatment [...]
A police crash report can make a serious collision look settled before the defense has examined the evidence. It may assign fault, estimate speed, describe the point of impact, and frame the driver’s conduct as reckless or impaired. In a Denver vehicular assault case, those early conclusions can influence charging decisions, plea negotiations, and how prosecutors present the case.
The problem is that a police report is not proof. Officers often prepare crash reports based on witness statements, final vehicle [...]