Colorado Fentanyl Possession Laws: Charges, Penalties, and Enhanced Sentencing Risks
August 24, 2026
Colorado law recognizes your right to protect your person, your property, and other people when unlawfully threatened. Unfortunately, while self-defense is a lawful and perfectly understandable instinct, proving that you were acting out of self-defense in court is an incredibly difficult task.
In Colorado, the laws determining whether you acted in self-defense are not hard and fast ones, since many judges have differing views on what it means to protect yourself. If you use physical force to defend yourself, you [...]
While our nation’s youth crime rates have declined considerably in the last 20 years, the US continues to put more children and teenagers in juvenile detention centers than any other developed country. Our juvenile incarceration rate is seven times higher than Britain’s, and 18 times higher than France’s rate. Each year, we spend millions of taxpayer dollars keeping children and teens behind bars.
While these numbers are frightening on their own, it’s even more frightening to consider the effects of [...]
For some, it’s considered the season of giving. For others, it’s the season of shopping. But for as many as one in 11 Americans, it’s also the season of shoplifting.
The world has a serious shoplifting problem as it is—last year alone, it was estimated that retailers lost $112 billion worth of inventory. In America, the shoplifting problem only worsens during the holidays, when research shows that national shoplifting arrests increase nearly nine percent. The struggling economy has had an [...]
In adult society today, alcohol is almost everywhere we look—beer has become a central point of social gatherings, a rum and coke helps us break the ice in bars, a glass of wine helps us unwind after a long day at the office. While the prevalence of alcohol in today’s society is something that many of us have become accustomed to, the fact that it has become such an accepted part of how we socialize is something we need [...]
The holidays are upon us already, and even though your stomach may still be recovering from the Thanksgiving feast, Christmas and New Years are just around the corner – not to mention another month (or, hopefully, two!) of tailgating at Broncos games.
But you should be worried about a lot more than putting on a few extra pounds this holiday season. According to this eye-opening infographic, there’s a 33% jump in DUI offenses between Blackout Wednesday and January 2[...]
Colorado fentanyl possession charges can become serious felonies at relatively low weight thresholds. The law focuses on the weight of the material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing fentanyl rather than only the amount of pure fentanyl inside it. That means a small-looking quantity of powder or counterfeit pills can result in a much more serious charge once the substance is tested and weighed.
Weight is only part of the case. What the accused person knew, whether the state can prove [...]
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 [...]