Former Colorado state senator faces felony charge for actions in Senate ethics probe

A former state senator who allegedly faked at least two letters of endorsement to defend herself in an ethics probe has been charged in a criminal situation with attempting to influence a population servant Sonya Jaquez Lewis was charged with the felony by the Denver District Attorney s Office on July according to Denver District Court records The filing came nearly four months after prosecutors in Boulder and Denver reported they were assessing the Longmont Democrat Jaquez Lewis turned herself in to Denver police on July spent a night in jail and was issued the next morning declared her attorney Craig Truman on Tuesday morning She will be arraigned in early August Truman declined to comment on the charges other than to say that he was sure when all the facts are known in this challenging and complicated affair justice will be done for both sides Matt Jablow a spokesman for Denver District Attorney John Walsh approved the charges Monday night Jaquez Lewis matter which wasn t publicized at the time it was filed was first broadcasted by Colorado Politics Jaquez Lewis resigned from the legislature in February amid an ethics probe into her healing of her legislative aides Her resignation came just before the ethics committee learned that Jaquez Lewis had faked a letter of aid from a former legislative staffer The then-state senator had sent the committee made up of her colleagues five letters as part of her defense against claims that she required aides to do work around her house and had resisted signing off on a staffer s timecard Of five people who submitted letters purportedly on Jaquez Lewis behalf two stated investigators they did not author them according to court records Another person revealed she thought a letter submitted under her name wasn t the letter she d written and a fourth alleged author laughed as a Denver investigator read her letter aloud according to charging documents The fifth letter was submitted to the legislative committee anonymously The Boulder and Denver district attorneys offices began examining Jaquez Lewis in March Sen Julie Gonzales a Democrat who chaired the ethics committee reported The Post then that she contacted prosecutors about the materials we received from Jaquez Lewis as part of the Senate Ethics Committee process At the time Jaquez Lewis mentioned the letter had been accidentally submitted The alleged author of that letter informed investigators that Jaquez Lewis had contacted her repeatedly in January including by mentioning a feasible job lead according to court records The woman then learned of the ethics inquiry and ignored the then-senator s calls and texts because she did not have great things to say about Ms Jaquez Lewis Related Articles Colorado lawmaker faces sexual harassment accusations that surfaced during GOP leadership race These new Colorado laws take effect Tuesday regulating gun shops sexual assault cases youth detention and more Republican state legislator from Berthoud resigning for new job in Arizona RTD board gives tentative yes to pursuing Front Range patron rail between Denver Fort Collins Colorado attempts crackdown on contends sharks for veterans benefits amid national debate over industry The Denver Post later established that a second letter of encouragement given to the committee had also apparently been faked In March Jaquez Lewis declined to comment about the second letter Investigators spoke with that purported author too and she validated she did not write it An investigator with the DA s office also spoke with someone the name is redacted who noted Jaquez Lewis had urged her to copy and paste language from an attorney into a letter that the senator wished the person to submit to the Secretary of State s Office on behalf of Jaquez Lewis According to court records the alleged author of another letter explained she had written a letter to the ethics committee on the senator s behalf But she thought the letter submitted by Ms Jaquez Lewis was not the letter she wrote When an investigator called a fourth purported author the person laughed as the investigator read the letter aloud The person declined to speak further according to court records Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot