Defending Colorado Identity Theft and Financial Exploitation Charges
October 27, 2026
Burglary is typically depicted as someone sneaking in to someone’s house late at night through a window and tiptoeing around to commit theft. However, while this certainly is a form of burglary, it is not the only way that you can receive a burglary charge in our state.
In fact, Colorado’s legal definition of burglary includes many other types of crimes and types of actions. Case-in-point: burglary doesn’t have to involve someone’s home – or even a building.
All told, [...]
Property crimes are taken very seriously in Colorado, as they often have devastating consequences for the victim(s) and/or property owner.
Fortunately, Denver has recently enjoyed a decrease in property crimes. As of this writing, the city has averaged 1917 property crimes per month in 2018, a substantial decrease from last year’s average of 2131 property crimes per month.
Local law enforcement often pays special attention to crimes that are widespread or on the rise, which might lead you to believe [...]
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 [...]
Denver has recently seen a substantial increase in both auto thefts and methamphetamine possession – a 13% increase in stolen vehicles, and a 30% increase in meth possession arrests.
Drug addicts often steal or break into vehicles in order to trade the contraband for drugs. Local law enforcement is aware of this connection, and is attempting to crack down on both types of offenses.
However, the assumption that someone is committing auto theft to pay for drugs is just that [...]
Most people see the winter holiday season as a time of celebration. Thankfulness. Togetherness. Joy and cheer. For the Denver police and others in local law enforcement, though, it is also a time that brings a huge uptick in the number of theft cases they have to handle.
Some of these cases are truly unusual, like the young adults that recently got caught on camera stealing Christmas decorations. Or the man who allegedly stole over $7,000 worth of Christmas trees [...]
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, [...]