Officers that shot elk, pt 2

[BPTactical]

THIS!
Had not one, but two Jefferson County Assistant DAs tell me they usually try to give people a break first offense. Not sure about attempt murder of a peace officer- I would have thrown his ass away for life! It seems like the Jeffco jail has a lighter load than the Jeffco Probation Dept.

I can say with absolute certainty that this is bullshit.
I have an extended family member with a spotless criminal record aside from a minor in possession of alcohol(@ age 16, party was 20 when this incident occurred) that used to work at a well known auto dealership in Jefferson County. It was a well known secret that employees would take the loaner cars out on weekends for dates, cruises etc without management approval. Nothing ever happened to them.
Family member takes out a vehicle for a cruise and flattens both right side tires. No drugs, alcohol or accident is involved.
She arranges to have the vehicle towed in at her expense and does so, calls boss and explains what happened. Boss says no big deal, come to work on Monday and they will work it out.
She comes to work and is very remorseful and offers to write a check on the spot for the damages.
She is arrested for "auto theft in excess of $20,000", charged and booked, released on own recognizance.
Party goes to court after retaining a well known criminal attorney for counsel.
The DA absolutely refused to reduce the charges one bit even after the manager of the dealership wrote a letter to the court explaining that this was a good person and employee and wished no recourse on her other than the damages reconciled. They even stated that use of the vehicles after hours was a frequent occurrence and would stop after this incident.
Attorney provided school records (Honors Student and missed perfect attendance by two days)
The only thing the DA offered was to enter her into the Adult Diversion program but to do so she had to plead guilty to the charge of Auto Theft in Excess of $20,000, a Class 5 Felony punishable with 8-12 years in a State Correctional institute.
Lost her license for a year and has a felony conviction on her record at this time.
She is doing well in the program but even a minor LE contact has the potential to ruin it all and it could result in her next court appearance being a sentencing hearing on the original charge.
She completes the program successfully and the conviction is vacated and she can petition to have it sealed.
Not condoning what she did at all, she was in the wrong and knows it.
But don't try to say that Jeffco is lenient on first time offenders. It's bullshit.