Office of the District Attorney
18th Judicial District
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District Attorney John Kellner |
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Every year, staff from all 22 District Attorney’s Offices in Colorado come together for extensive training during an annual conference organized by the Colorado District Attorney’s Council.
The Colorado District Attorney’s Council (CDAC) is a statewide organization that represents all District Attorneys in our state and their advocacy work can be witnessed each year during the legislative session. The CDAC conference kicked off with an award ceremony, and I am immensely proud to announce that one of our talented prosecution teams was awarded the 2023 Outstanding Trial Team of the Year. They were honored with this prestigious award for their hard work in convicting multiple MS-13 gang members who were involved in a series of homicides and attempted homicides.
Case Reference:
People v. David Tobias Carbajal
People v. Mauricio Alvarado-Vasquez
The trial team involved the following individuals:
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jason Siers
Chief Deputy District Attorney Laura Wilson
Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Klingensmith
Deputy District Attorney Grant Grosgebauer
Victim Witness Specialist Misty Armijo
Victim Witness Specialist Amanda Chase
Victim Witness Specialist Emily Riley
Office Manager and Senior Paralegal Amber Cochran
Detective Matt Ingui, Aurora Police Department
Detective Vina Maciel-Diaz, Denver Police Department
Case summary:
A group of MS-13 gang members committed three separate homicides in 2019, conspiring to inflict violence, gang retaliations, drug trafficking, and witness intimidation in Aurora and the Denver Metro Area. In last month’s newsletter, I highlighted the case, People v. Mauricio Alvarado-Vasquez.
Our prosecution team demonstrated their commitment to achieving justice for victims in these horrific cases. I’m grateful for the countless hours this trial team spent on bringing more than a dozen defendants to justice for their roles in this violent organized crime spree.
It’s also an honor to announce that this Trial Team award has been presented to our Office staff for the second consecutive year. You may recall, our Cold Case Homicide Team earned the Outstanding Trial Team Award last year for their work in solving a 1981 cold case, People v. David D. Anderson. You can read about it here.
Finally in Douglas County courtroom news, a judge recently sentenced defendant Erik Chen to 50 years in the Department of Corrections. Earlier this year, Chen pleaded guilty to three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child. The investigation revealed Chen recorded multiple children in changing rooms when he ran summer camps for Han Lee’s Taekwondo Center, which has locations in Aurora and Lone Tree. He also had a large collection of child pornography on his computer. You can read the full case details here.
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The 18th Judicial District
is comprised of four counties:
Arapahoe, Douglas,
Elbert, and Lincoln.
Our office proudly serves
over 1.1 million people.
The 18th JD is the most
populated judicial district
in the state of Colorado.
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Colorado District Attorneys’ Council (CDAC) “Outstanding Trial Team" is prestigious recognition presented to only one team each year in the state of Colorado for their dedication and hard work in solving challenging cases. For the second consecutive year, a trial team in the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office won the award.
MS-13 Homicide and Colorado Organized Crime Act (COCCA) Trial Team
18th Judicial District Attorney's Office
Cases are: People v. David Tobias Carbajal, and People v. Mauricio Alvarado-Vasquez
This trial team consisted of the following individuals:
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jason Siers
Chief Deputy District Attorney Laura Wilson
Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Klingensmith
Deputy District Attorney Grant Grosgebauer
Victim Witness Specialist Misty Armijo
Victim Witness Specialist Amanda Chase
Victim Witness Specialist Emily Riley
Office Manager and Senior Paralegal Amber Cochran
Detective Matt Ingui, Aurora Police Department
Detective Vina Maciel-Diaz, Denver Police Department
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Citizen's Academy Kickoff |
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Week 1
District Attorney John Kellner - Overview of District Attorney's Office
ADA Tom Byrnes - Prosecution and Criminal Court Process
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Week 2
Sherry Corcoran - Law Enforcement's relationship with the DA's Office Tom Byrnes - Misdemeanor and Felony Prosecution
Clinton McKinzie - Intake
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Week 3
Jason Siers - Fact Pattern
Rebecca Gleason and Kristine Rolfes - Juvenile Delinquency
Sarah Ericson - Diversion Counseling Program
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DA John Kellner was honored to witness U.S. Marine Corporal Ryan Garza (Ret) receive the keys to a brand new wheelchair-accessible home during a ceremony in Douglas County. All was made possible through Helping a Hero, a non-profit providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror, and other sponsors that included Community of Sterling Ranch, Lennar Homes and Bass Pro Shops. CBS video is here.
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Congratulations to Darcy Kofol who was sworn-in as Senior Chief Deputy DA in our Arapahoe County Office. Ms. Kofol has spent the last 7 years in our Office; most recently as Chief of Organized Crime Unit.
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Austin Fletcher, a prosecutor in our Economic Crime Unit (ECU) spoke at a Symposium
for Senior Safety.
These events help our community identify and spot common scams and theft cases so you don't become a victim.
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We enjoy opportunities to educate our fellow law enforcement partners on how we successfully prosecute cases. Senior Chief DDA Darcy Kofol and Supervisory Criminal Investigator Joe Ryan Hartley recently spoke at a class hosted by the Colorado Drug Investigators Association.
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Our dedicated Human Trafficking Team of Deputy DA Jacob Kremin, Investigator Bob Friel and Victim/Witness Advocate Misty Armijo spoke with community members at Smoky Hill Library to talk about human trafficking and the warning signs you should know. We're aggressively working with our law enforcement partners to crackdown on this illegal activity and provide resources to victims.
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A quarterly town hall is part of District Attorney John Kellner's community-focused effort. Our latest town hall video is here:
For PAST events, please click button below.
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Ex-Taekwondo instructor sentenced to five decades in prison for recording multiple children in changing rooms |
On September 15, 2023, Douglas County District Judge Patricia Herron sentenced Erik Chen, 32, to 50 years in the Department of Corrections. In March, Chen pleaded guilty to three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child, a class 3 Felony. In February 2021, the Aurora Police Department was dispatched to Han Lee’s Taekwondo Academy in Aurora where Chen was employed. A father told investigators that his two daughters found Chen’s cell phone recording them while they were changing clothes in the Lone Tree Recreation Center’s changing room. The victims indicated they deleted the videos. An incident report was taken, but there was not enough probable cause or evidence to make an arrest at that time. Then in June 2021, officers with the Castle Rock Police Department responded to the Castle Rock Recreation Center after a therapist stated one of her clients disclosed that Chen recorded them in the restroom of the recreation center in 2020.
Full News Release is here.
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Colorado District Attorneys’ Council honors trial team for convictions of violent MS-13 gang members |
This month, the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council (CDAC) honored one of our prosecution teams in the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office with the 2023 Outstanding Trial Team of the Year award. This prestigious recognition is only presented to one team each year for their dedication and hard work in solving challenging cases.
This year’s award was given to our prosecution team who worked on convicting more than a dozen defendants for their roles in a series of violent, gang-related crimes in Arapahoe County dating back to 2019. MS-13 gang members and their accomplices would target anyone they perceived as a “threat” by stalking their victims, stabbing, and shooting them. In August 2023, our Office issued a news release outlining a series of homicides and attempted murders this organized group was behind. You can view a copy of that release here.
Mauricio Alvarado Vasquez, David Tobias-Carbijal and Josue Tobas-Carbijal are all currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Several other defendants have also been sentenced to the Department of Corrections. Full News Release is here.
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All News Releases are here.
18th Judicial District Attorney's Office
Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert & Lincoln Counties
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District Attorney John Kellner spoke at the launch when eight (8) Colorado District Attorneys’ offices participating in a pilot phase, unveiled “data dashboards,” a new publicly-available resource designed to promote more effective, just, and transparent decision-making in prosecution. The dashboards were created through the pilot phase of the Colorado Prosecutorial Dashboards project. The project will next create the tools and infrastructure needed to scale up use of data in DAs’ offices statewide.
9News video:
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Community Engagement & Education |
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Here to Educate, Protect, and Serve.
The District Attorney’s Office hosts, supports, and attends community events to provide an important presence in making community members aware that we are here to listen and to help work with them to strengthen the community against crime and violence.
If you are interested in having our office speak to your organization or participate in a public safety-related event, please Contact Us
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PEACE OFFICER CREDIBILITY DISCLOSURE NOTIFICATION
Effective January 1, 2022: Consistent with the requirements under state law, our office has adopted and implemented a policy based on the model created by the Peace Officer Credibility Disclosure Notification Committee pursuant to Senate Bill 21-174.This policy seeks to establish uniform and consistent standards requiring law enforcement agencies to disclose specific information to the district attorney that may impact the credibility of a peace officer in a criminal prosecution, and to establish procedures for the district attorney to timely disclose such information to the defense under the Colorado Rules of Criminal Procedure and to increase transparency to allow members of the public to access information concerning peace officers who are subject to a credibility disclosure notification.
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Interested in joining the District Attorney’s office for the largest jurisdiction in Colorado with easy access to the Denver Metro Area? Click Here
We offer a generous benefits package, including but not limited to medical, dental, vision, 401K matching, paid holidays and PTO.
Additionally, the 18th Judicial District also provides:
• Career advancement opportunities
• Trainings / Continuing Education
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness opportunities for those who qualify.
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Sign up for
newsletter here:
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