COSTILLA COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — In an official release from the Costilla County Board of Commissioners on Saturday, Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez has resigned after being indicted on Thursday.
The board is holding a special meeting on March 30 to appoint a new sheriff.
The 12th Judicial District Grand Jury has issued indictments for the sheriff, undersheriff, and three deputies in Costilla County.
- Officials provided updates on the indictments on Friday evening. You can watch the press conference in its entirety below:
According to the grand jury, Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez and former Deputy Keith Schultz were indicted on four counts of official misconduct and one count of abuse of a corpse for their handling of the discovery of unidentified human remains in the Wild Horse Mesa area.
Court documents say the remains were discovered in October, 2024. They say Sheriff Sanchez and former Deputy Schultz took a skull from the scene, left other remains behind, and failed to properly report the discovery.
The documents also say former Deputy Schultz put bones in a bag and left it unsecured on his desk. They say Former Deputy Schultz went out on another call and when he came back, the bag was gone.
Sheriff Sanchez's son, Sergeant Caleb Sanchez, and Deputy Roland Riley were also indicted by the grand jury on counts of second and third-degree assault for use of force in an incident involving a community member having a mental health crisis.
The grand jury also indicted Undersheriff Cruz Soto on two counts of failing to intervene and one count of third-degree assault related to that incident.
The indictments follow an investigation by the 12th Judicial District Attorney's Office. You can view the indictments below:
Court documents say the person was unarmed and suffered a broken rib after being tased by Sergeant Sanchez during the incident. It says days later, Sergeant Sanchez said he was "too new" to understand what happened.
Sheriff Sanchez:
Sergeant Sanchez:
Undersheriff Soto:
Deputy Schultz:
Deputy Riley:
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