Tag: sentencing
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Appeals court rules harsher sentence after appeal does not mean judge was ‘vindictive’
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week that a Jefferson County judge subjected a man to a harsher sentence following a successful appeal because the parole eligibility date was pushed back by multiple years, but that fact alone did not mean the judge acted “vindictively.” In 2015, the state Supreme Court noted that when a criminal…
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Pueblo West man sentenced to prison for sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a child
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save A Pueblo West man was sentenced to 10 years to life after pleading guilty to sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a child spanning 12 years, according to a news release Tuesday from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office. William Plymell, 77, was arrested in July…
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Pueblo West man sentenced to prison for sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a child
A Pueblo West man was sentenced to 10 years to life after pleading guilty to sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a child spanning 12 years, according to a news release Tuesday from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office. William Plymell, 77, was arrested in July 2022 after a monthslong investigation by the sheriff’s office. Detectives…
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Return to Nature owners plead guilty to federal wire fraud
DENVER • Return to Nature Funeral Home owners Jon and Carie Hallford appeared in federal court on Thursday to accept a plea deal, which could land the couple in prison for up to 15 years. In September, the Hallfords filed a notice of disposition and a motion requesting a change of plea on the federal 15 counts…
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Colorado Supreme Court tiptoes around prior edict forbidding prison plus probation
Five years ago, the Colorado Supreme Court interpreted state law to prohibit judges from imposing a sentence of prison plus probation in a single criminal case. But on Wednesday, the justices appeared to endorse the idea that judges could resentence affected defendants in a fashion that preserves the same — illegal — punishment. In its 2019 decision…
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Colorado justices skeptical of opening door to resentencing defendants under ‘3 strikes’ law
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court gave an icy reception on Tuesday to the idea that defendants convicted decades ago and serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law should have the opportunity to argue their punishments are grossly disproportionate under current standards. Although Colorado’s Habitual Criminal Act has undergone changes since its enactment…
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‘J6 Praying Grandma’ from Colorado Springs area avoids prison — but not all penalties
A sentencing that took four and a half hours in federal district court in Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon left 72-year-old great-grandmother Rebecca Lavrenz of Falcon with no prison time for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. What a magistrate judge did levy for her April 4 conviction on four misdemeanor counts: one…
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‘J6 Praying Grandma’ says she’s not scared as sentencing nears
Rebecca Lavrenz doesn’t want to go to prison, but for the past four months the 72-year-old great-grandmother, retired registered nurse and small-business owner in El Paso County has been steeling herself for that possibility. “I don’t think it’s right. I’m not happy about it. But I’d rather be in prison obeying God than be out…
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‘There’s a different weight that I feel’: Kato Crews speaks about first 6 months as federal district judge
When President Joe Biden appointed S. Kato Crews as a federal trial judge in January, Crews was no stranger to Colorado’s U.S. District Court. He had served as a magistrate judge on the same court for more than five years. On Wednesday, Crews told an audience of attorneys at the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse…
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10th Circuit finds trial judge erred in sentencing duo who fraudulently sold body parts
A trial judge incorrectly calculated the sentences of a mother and daughter who pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining and selling body parts as part of an eight-year scheme, the federal appeals court based in Denver ruled on Tuesday. Megan Hess operated Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors in Montrose, catering to customers seeking cremation as well as medical-research…