As the city of Colorado Springs has detailed budget issues over the last year, News5 Investigates has learned the city paid a large severance package to one of its highest-paid employees, despite her departure not being budget related.

The city announced in January that Chief of Staff Jamie Fabos would be leaving her $263,148 salaried position with the city in February. In the news release, the mayor said she brought a "no-nonsense, get it done, energy to our work."

Documents obtained by News5 Investigates appear to show her departure was not her decision.

In Fabos' resignation letter she said she was submitted the resignation as a condition of her severance package because of the "city's decision to separate [her] employment." Taxpayers are currently paying her salary through August, she was given six months of pay as well as six months of health insurance benefits through COBRA, totaling a severance deal of $137,530.

News5 Investigates reached out to Mayor Mobolade's office for an on-camera interview, a spokesperson instead sent News5 the following statement:

The city does have a policy when it comes to severance pay for senior "at-will" employees like Fabos, it says with a 30 day notice, these manager employees could have "the possibility of severance pay and/or benefits up to six months, for an eligible manager terminated without cause is authorized at the Mayor or Appointee's discretion."

When asked what led up to Fabos' departure, spokesperson Joe Hollman said "as a personnel matter, the City does not comment on the specifics of an individual's separation."

News5 Investigates learned the city is required to provide quarterly severance reports to the city council, after looking at the reports from 2024 to year to date in 2026, something stuck out to News5 Investigates.

Only one employee in the last two years appeared to have received a six month severance package, it was the city's planning director who would've been considered a senior position.

In late 2025, 38 city employees lost their jobs due to budget constraints. A review of both their severance amounts and salaries showed most of them received about two to three months pay, none of those laid off received six months of severance.

The city said those employees severance packages involved several factors including benefits they're entitled to, their tenure with the city and the level of their position.

News5 Investigates also reached out to Fabos for comment, she did not respond by our deadline.

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The Colorado Springs Utilities Board, which is also the city council, unanimously approved a large pay raise for its Chief Executive Officer, Travas Deal, last month.

Under the contract agreement the board approved, Deal will be making $700,000 in 2027, a $150,000 raise from his current pay. An incremental raise just went into effect, bringing his salary to $625,000. 

The raise was justified based on a 2025 study from the Large Public Power Council (LPPC), which, according to its website, has 30 members of public utilities. 

LPPC said among its members, Colorado Springs Utilities is the only four-service utility. Springs Utilities provides electricity, gas, water, and wastewater. 

As the study has been used to justify the pay increase, News5Investigates requested the full study to see the details. 

LPPC said the information was confidential. When asked why that was the case, as the information is from publicly owned utilities, an LPPC spokesperson said confidentiality is standard practice for compensation benchmarking surveys across industries, consistent with how compensation studies are conducted by benefit consulting firms and industry associations broadly."

A Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request for the same information was denied; Springs Utilities cited a CORA statute dealing with trade secrets and confidential commercial information.

News5 Investigates contacted Colorado Springs Utilities for a response to the CORA denial. They responded saying, "Records responsive to your request are withheld pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute (C.R.S.) 24-72-204(3)(a)(IV) as such records contain trade secrets/confidential commercial information."

News5 Investigates also asked whether or not there is a confidentiality agreement in place between Colorado Springs Utilities and LPPC. A spokesperson with Colorado Springs Utilities was not aware of a confidentiality agreement with LPPC, but said they are working to address the question.

A response to News5's open records request on the confidential agreement received Thursday morning said there are "no responsive records".

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Colorado Springs Utilities CEO Travas Deal will be getting a $150,000 pay raise over the course of the next several months after the Utilities Board approved an amendment to his contract on Wednesday.

With the approved raise, Deal will be paid $700,000 a year beginning in 2027. The Utilities Board, which is also the Colorado Springs City Council, said the raise is needed to bring Travas Deal up to the market median for other CEOs of "Large Public Power Council (LPPC)" utilities.

Board President Dave Donelson spoke to reporters after the decision on Wednesday and said that currently the CEO's salary makes up about $0.11 a month for every ratepayer's bill. This increase in his pay will ultimately total $0.14 a month, but Donelson said it will not increase bills as the raise had already been budgeted in the event of the Utilities Board approval.

Deals current salary is $550,014. Now that the raise has been approved, it will happen in two stages. A $74,986 raise beginning May 24 for a total annual pay of $625,000, and then on Dec. 20 of this year, Deal would get another $75,000 raise to bring his annual pay to $700,000.

"This is always going to be a hard issue, it's a large amount of money, but again it is the market rate" Donelson said.

While the raise is spread out over two fiscal years, News5 Investigates asked why the raise would not be spread out over five years, as ratepayers are currently in the midst of a five-year rate increase.

"At the end of '27 hes gonna be at the 50th percentile for '25, okay, so were not even because we dont know what the medium the middle point will be in '27 so if we stretch it out to four years, you know we would be four years behind the newest 50th percentile," Donelson said.

In whats titled an employment agreement amendment in the agenda, Deal also asked for six months of guaranteed severance if he is fired without cause. Utilities Board members also approved the severance change, which they said was to bring Deal in line with other CEO agreements.

"That's not unusual, we didn't do something that was out of alignment with typical, "Donelson said.

His current contract requires a minimum of three months' severance and a maximum of six months.

News5 Investigates reached out to Colorado Springs Utilities on Tuesday afternoon to ask about the proposal.

In a statement to News5, Colorado Springs Utilities objected to News5s original reporting that the request came from CEO Travas Deal. Springs Utilities said, The Utilities Board committed to revisiting CEO compensation in 2026 and considering alignment with the market median. The CEO's salary is discussed annually by the Utilities Board.

The agenda for Wednesday's meeting said the board memo agenda item was from Travas Deal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Additionally, Colorado Springs Utilities said its standard protocol that all Utilities Board agenda items are formally submitted through the CEOs office.

When asked if Mr. Deal supports the amendment to his contract, Colorado Springs Utilities said: Mr. Deal does not advocate for or against those decisions and respects the Boards governance role and process.

Utilities Board President, Councilman Dave Donelson, sent News5 a statement supporting the pay raise, saying "the right thing to do is to compensate him at least at the 'average' level for CEOs of public utilities similar to CSU."

Donelson's full statement:

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Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade has put a new policy in place governing the personal use of city-owned vehicles by elected officials, following a city audit that raised questions about his use of a city car and his security detail.

Some members of city council are not happy with the policy, and this week, they are looking at changing it.

Under the new policy, he could drive a city-owned car for personal use and reimburse the city for mileage. A city-owned vehicle can also be used for "incidental" errands on the way to city business, as long as it is reported to the IRS as a fringe benefit.

City Council President Pro-Tem Brian Risley is not happy about the policy.

"I think it sends the message that the mayor believes that city resources are entirely at his disposal for whatever he deems to be appropriate," Risley said.

"I just don't think that this regulation does anything or is helpful," Risley said.

The mayor's announcement came after a March report released by the city auditor showed he had his security detail accompany him on errands like picking up dry cleaning and going to his kids' school events in between city events.

The audit report also showed his wife drove a city vehicle for about 150 miles last year.

The mayor also revealed in a news release about his policy that he took a city car to Crested Butte in March. That same release says he has since paid the city about $380.

"So this was a very reactionary response in my opinion, and again, don't think that just because you can use a vehicle doesn't mean you should use a vehicle. Just because you can use city resources doesn't mean that it's right," Risley said.

Risley is also concerned about insurance and liability, specifically when it comes to spouses driving city vehicles. He says the liability policy for city vehicles does not cover spouses.

In his news release, the mayor defended the new policy, saying it "reflects my commitment to clear expectations and responsible use of taxpayer dollars." He went on to say: "Existing policy allowed certain personal use of City-owned vehicles, but this regulation provides clearer guidance and stronger consistency moving forward and holds me and the Office of the Mayor to a higher standard."

A review found few local governments that allow for total personal use of city vehicles by elected officials.

However, similar to one element of the mayor's new policy, Jefferson County, Colorado, does allow its employees to run errands during work time, as long as it is reported to the IRS as a fringe benefit.

Councilman Roland Rainey was direct when asked whether elected officials should be using any city resources for personal use, regardless of whether they pay it back.

"Let me be very clear from council member Rainey's perspective. The answer is no. No. An elected official should not be using a government vehicle for personal uses," Rainey said.

Rainey said he feels updating the policy should have been a collaborative effort between the mayor and city council, and that it is a good idea for council to review the city's code of ethics.

That said, Rainey acknowledged there may be situations where it makes sense for an elected official to stop briefly on the way to a city event.

"There's intent. Right? Is it malicious in nature? No. If I'm driving to a city event and my kids' school or, you know, some event sporting event is on the way and I want go there quickly and spend thirty minutes to cheer him on on my way to the city event. Once again, I don't think a lot of residents would lose sleep over that," Rainey said.

In other situations, he does not feel personal use should be the norm.

"It's the malicious intent of, hey, I'm going to go out of my way to take a vehicle or check out a vehicle and take it on a two three day trip, that's not official government business. That's not the business of the city and I think that's what a heartburn would a lot of residents, that's what they would have," Rainey said.

The mayor does have support for his new policy on city council. Councilwoman Nancy Henjum told News5 in a statement that she feels the mayor's policy puts guardrails in place, and she hopes city council will instead focus on public safety and housing affordability.

You can read Councilwoman Henjums full statement below:

City council is discussing updating the code of ethics to address this issue during Mondays council work session.

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An El Paso County woman convicted of murdering her 11-year-old stepson in 2020 may get a new trial after the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday morning that a juror seated for her trial was biased.

Letecia Stauch was convicted in 2023 of murdering her stepson Gannon Stauch in 2020. The Colorado Court of appeals court issued a 2-1 ruling stating the trial judge should have dismissed a juror whose son-in-law was a deputy district attorney in the office of District Attorney Michael Allen, who tried the case.

Jeremy Loew, a defense attorney in Colorado Springs was not surprised by the ruling.

This is not a surprise to members of the defense bar, the criminal defense bar in Colorado Springs, A majority of the criminal defense bar that followed this case were almost certain that this ruling was going to come down, Loew said.

Stauchs attorney challenged the juror to the judge, Gregory Werner. Werner did not dismiss the juror.

In the ruling, a transcript from court reported Werner said I dont think its a statutory cause, and I didnt hear anything else about that fact creating an issue or conflict or something else.

The case law is very clear, Loew said, no family member of the district attorney's office can serve on a jury. In this case, the father-in-law of one of the jurors.

There is a law in Colorado that says a relative of an attorney on a case within the third degree whether by blood, adoption, or marriage does have an implied or actual bias. An attorney can say they believe the relative can be impartial.

If an elected District Attorney is trying a case, which District Attorney Michael Allen did, then it extends to all attorneys working under the DA. The appellate judges referenced a decision from People v Macrander (1992) for that case.

Oftentimes, there's subconscious bias that you can't put aside, and when one of your family members is employed by the prosecutor in the case, of course, there's going to be bias, and it can't be just kind of rehabilitated or pushed pushed away, Loew said.

When Loew found out about the judges decision not to dismiss, it didnt quite add up for him.

Why? There were hundreds and hundreds of prospective jurors. Why not excuse just this one challenge for cause? Loew said.

All three appeals judges agreed the judge should have dismissed the juror, but one dissenting judge argued Letecia Stauch waived her right to appeal the juror's bias.

I think this is a surprise, anytime you have a case that of this magnitude that's overturned, I think it surprises the public, Dan May, former District Attorney for the 4

Judicial District which includes El Paso County said, in particular, this is being decided on some very technical issues on how to use challenges to a jury, that's also a surprise in this case too.

Attorneys can challenge jurors for cause or with a peremptory challenge. A challenge for cause includes a specific law demonstrating bias or a conflict of interest. A peremptory challenge is discretionary, often attorneys can dismiss for just about any reason.

"By the way it was argued and by the way it's talked about in the briefs, somebody challenged this juror for cause but didn't cite the statute, and the prosecution didn't cite the statute, nor did the judge. So it appears to me that nobody in that courtroom was aware this was in the statute," May said.

The dissenting appellate judge argued that Stauchs attorneys waived the right to dismiss the juror. According to the ruling, attorneys had 16 discretionary challenges. Stauchs legal team dismissed seven jurors it had previously challenged the judge for cause that the judge did not dismiss, there were nine other jurors dismissed under the peremptory challenge.

The dissenting judge argued because this juror was not dismissed in that process, they waived the right to appeal.

The other two appellate judges said in the ruling, the law does not require criminal defendants to use peremptory challenges to preserve an unsuccessful challenge for cause and that a reversal of the conviction is required.

"Does the defense have to use a preemptory challenge on somebody that they've asked the judge to remove for cause? The majority says you don't have to and it's overturned. The dissent says you do have to and because you didn't, the conviction stands," May said.

In a high profile case like Stauch's, Loew said the community impact is something that also just didn't make sense to defense attorneys like himself.

"We're gonna put the community through another pretty horrendous trial, we're going to put the taxpayers through another round of tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, in costs. Why not just excuse the juror? Err the side of caution," Loew said.

News5 spoke with Gannon Stauchs parents Thursday, they declined to go on-camera as theyre processing the news. Gannons father, Al Stauch provided the following statement:

"After hearing the news today about the decision by the court of appeals, I am truly torn by the emotions of potentially having to repeat this process. My resolve, however, has never been greater, my desire for justice has never waivered and most importantly my love for Gannon will never fail. I am reminded daily that Gannon is standing next to God in Heaven and together looking down on all of us. As Pastor Paul and my momma recommended so many times throughout this process, lets go to the Psalms. I declare Psalm 23 over my family, all of the attorneys on this case and everyone who has shown love and support for Gannon. The end result will be the same and although we do not wish to journey this path again, we stand with those who will handle this case and believe whole heartedly in their ability to finish this once and for all."

Stauch will remain in prison as the process gets underway to determine if the Colorado Supreme Court will hear the case. If the Supreme Court upholds the Appeals Court ruling, Stauch will return to the El Paso County Jail and a new trial will take place.

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When Mark Roybal got a letter from the IRS addressed to his Pueblo West home earlier this month, he was confused; hed already filed his taxes and received a refund.

After he opened the letter, he realized it was addressed to an LLC hed never heard of.

I was thinking, how did this happen? said Roybal. Im kind of a curious guy, I work in data, so out of curiosity, I put in that company into Google and Colorado businesses, and it took me to the Secretary of States office.

The business name was a combination of seemingly random letters paired with LLC. It was a similar experience News5 reported last month with Tim Johnson in Colorado Springs.

Its a problem News5Investigates has heard from dozens of homeowners about and even reached out to homeowners whose addresses were on a database of recently registered businesses.

State lawmakers are also working to address business fraud with legislation making its way through the Capitol.

It's concerning when you start getting stuff from the IRS to an LLC and I was concerned that theyre doing something thats illegal, and my address is tied to this LLC, Sarah Harrison in Colorado Springs told News5.

Buddy Bolster was also shocked to learn his address was being used for an LLC with which he had no affiliation.

It just irritates the heck out of me when I see this, and people just kind of let it slide and just not do anything about it, said Bolster.

Diane Terhune, also in Colorado Springs, wants to see more checks in the system.

[the] Secretary of State has a database. Why isn't someone dumping the database and looking for the same addresses and stuff, you know? said Terhune.

Roybal downloaded a database online that showed every business registered since the beginning of the year in Colorado, he found hundreds of businesses registered in the last three months with similar names: random letters.

The filings also list a separate LLC as its registered agent, which is a person or business who receives legal documents and correspondence for the state, the registered agent for the businesses Roybal found is often tied to multiple LLCs.

It kind of gave me a sense of relief knowing that, wow, I wasn't the poor, unlucky person that got picked on by somebody, that it's just a lot of people, said Roybal.

Roybal reported the business as fraudulent to the Secretary of State and the IRS. He said trying to verify his information with the IRS was a lengthy process. He feels theres not enough verification in setting up a business in Colorado.

News5 Investigates reported the state has a backlog of fraudulent filings of about 1,800 cases it has sent to the Attorney Generals office.

I would just think that there has to be a check, there has to be a verification. Anything you do, you have to have a verification that it's valid, said Roybal. You know, if there's that many out there. I think the attorney general has better things to do than investigate this type of fraud that could be avoided before it starts.

As News5 has reported, in 2022 state lawmakers added a process for Coloradans to report business fraud. State lawmakers are now trying to streamline the process to investigate these cases.

The bill currently making its way through the Capitol does not address the ease with which people can use someone elses home address on a business filing.

There's always more that we can do to perfect our systems, said Sen. Lisa Cutter (D-Jefferson County). It would be ideal if we were able to verify addresses upfront eventually, and I think that's something that the state would definitely consider looking into, but that requires a lot of resources.

Resources, including labor and technology costs. The state is currently facing a budget deficit, and Cutter says now is not the time to make investments in additional verification processes.

I think it's a great idea. I think that when you're looking at hungry kids, and you're looking at families of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities not requiring the services and the things that they need to sustain them, then it's very difficult, said Cutter.

The bill would allow the Secretary of State's office to mark a business as fraudulent without sending it to the Attorney Generals office if theres a fraudulent LLC as the registered agent.

We want it to be easy for businesses to open up here; entrepreneurism is incredibly important to Colorado, but also we want to protect people, said Cutter. I think this bill is a good balance with that.

Cutter added she feels adding ways to streamline the process to investigate fraudulent filings, it could also discourage fraud in the state. Homeowners want to see more done to protect their information.

They need to take this seriously, said Bolster.

The bill passed through the House and is now in the Senate. If homeowners receive mail addressed to an LLC they did not create, they can report it to the Secretary of States Office by filling out this form and emailing businessfraud@coloradosos.gov.

RELATED: Colorado Springs man discovers business using his home address without permission

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A Colorado Springs man is sharing his story after he discovered someone registered a business to his home address without his permission.

Just like every day, I went out to my mailbox late December and I noticed that there was two envelopes and it had, like, a weird abbreviated LLC with my address," Tim Johnson said, so initially, I didn't think it was any big deal, and I thought, well, I'll just put not at this address and I put it back in the mailbox."

The registered agent on the business is another LLC, Prime Pick Brands, which appears to be the agent on nearly 60 businesses in the state.

"When is the madness going to stop?" Johnson said. "I mean, first of all, we can't answer our cell phones because there are scams. We can't answer a text because they're scams, we can't read our email, and now someone can just take your address without asking just to open up an LLC?"

News5Investigates discovered the businesses registered under Prime Pick Brands are nearly all home addresses in the state from the Denver metro area to Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

When more mail arrived a few days later, Johnson became concerned.

"I start[ed] worrying a little bit. I said, [this is] more than a coincidence," Johnson said.

Johnson filed a fraud report with the Secretary of States office but was told it could take months before its resolved.

Since 2023, the Secretary of State's office has identified more than 5,000 cases of business fraud. This could involve someone using another person's personal information to set up a business or changing a legitimate business's information without permission.

In 2022, state lawmakers created a process for the Secretary of State's office and the Attorney General to investigate business fraud. The secretary of states office says currently there are 1,789 cases being investigated.

In 2025, stricter guardrails were put in place. For example, a P.O. box cannot be the address of a registered agent, and the registered agent must have a valid Colorado drivers license or an address verified through the state.

"There's no gray area, its not theirs, they're not a tenant. It's my house, and I don't want them using my address, as simple as that," Johnson said.

When someone signs up for a business, if the principal address of the business is in Colorado and the Post Office shows it's a legitimate Colorado address, it's accepted. However, if the address is outside the state, theres an additional verification process where the registered agent needs to have a state driver's license or get the address verified through the state sending a passcode in the mail.

In Johnson's case, fraudsters used his home address as the principal address, and since it's a legitimate Colorado address, it was accepted.

The Secretary of State's office was not available for an interview but provided the following statement:

The Colorado Department of State is committed to protecting Coloradans from business identity theft, and to continually iterating and improving our protections to combat this pervasive nationwide issue.

Attempts to reach the property owner listed on the address associated with Primepick Brands LLC were unsuccessful.

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A Fountain family is grieving the deaths of their two beloved dogs that were killed by another dog at a local boarding facility while they were on vacation.

Veronica and Ray Gomez say they boarded their three dogs at Boardmoor Pet Resort off I-25 in Fountain on November 13, 2025. Two days later, they received a devastating phone call from the facility's owner, Daniel O'Sullivan, saying their 11-year-old Yorkie, Jax, and 7-year-old Shih Tzu, Rosie, had been killed by another dog at the facility. Their 1-and-a-half-year-old Belgian Malinois, Waya, survived.

"I asked him what happened, and he took the blame on both over the phone and in person," Veronica Gomez said. He said, 'I'm sorry I wasn't here. I didn't lock the kennels dogs got out and it was an accident.'"

When the family went to pick up their surviving dog and the bodies of the two others, emotions ran high.

"He said, 'I'm a mess.' And I said, 'You don't get to be a mess.' And that was it," Veronica Gomez said.

Boardmoor Pet Resort owner Daniel O'Sullivan would not speak to me on camera but told me the dogs' deaths were an accident. He said he forgot to add an extra lock on the latch to the kennel where the three Gomez dogs were boarded together and they got out. O'Sullivan said the two smallest dogs were attacked and killed by a bully breed dog that had been boarded there for months. He said the bully was in a locked kennel but banged her body against the kennel door so hard it twisted the lock and loosened a bolt, allowing the kennel door to open.

The grief-stricken family feels partly to blame.

"We were the only family that they ever had, and we failed them taking them to Boardmoor because they didn't take care of them," Veronica Gomez said.

Two days after the dogs were killed, Animal Law Enforcement issued a summons to O'Sullivan for "Unlawful Ownership of a Dangerous Dog," a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Colorado's Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act Program, which licenses boarding facilities in the state, received multiple complaints about the facility in October and November of 2025 as well as January of 2026. The facility also had a failed inspection in June, though details of the inspection and complaints were not shared since the case is under investigation.

The Gomez family says they won't be happy until the facility is shut down by the state.

"These dogs were our family, they really were," Veronica Gomez said.

Court documents show O'Sullivan appeared in court on January 5, 2026, and was advised of charges. His next court appearance is February 9, 2026. If convicted, O'Sullivan could spend up to 120 days in jail.

O'Sullivan told me he is working with animal control to develop a better lock system. I will follow up with PACFA to find out the results of their investigation.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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A letter making its way to neighbors in Pueblo West claimed a sexually violent predator was moving in, except the man named in the letter is not one.

Jamie House lives in Colorado Springs, his fiance, Mikiele Manasco lives in Pueblo West where he plans to eventually move. Not only did the letter falsely claim hes a sexually violent predator, it also included a lot of sensitive information.

This is just a whole new realm of ridiculousness and craziness, Manasco said.

House said he first learned about this last week when a deputy with the Pueblo County Sheriffs Office called him and said people had called the office about the letter.

At first, I was wondering if it really was the sheriffs deputy or if I was being pranked, House said. He learned quickly; it was not a joke.

The letter went a step further and also named Manasco and her place of work. Houses social security number, birthday, and license plate number were even included in the letter.

Im extremely angry, upset, you know I feel violated, I feel frustrated like I want something to be done because you know other than trying to do this to clear his name, theres nothing else we can do, Manasco said.

The Pueblo County Sheriffs Office confirmed to News5 that the letter did not come from their office, and they also do not send out letters when a sexually violent predator (SVP) moves into a neighborhood.

Instead, they put out a news release and update its website and social media pages with the information.

News5Investigates also looked up Houses information through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and national registries; he is not a sex offender or a sexually violent predator.

The letter includes what looks like a Pueblo County Sheriffs Office logo, it also says it came from an Officer M. Janson via Chief K. Henderson". Theres no chief because the Sheriff is in charge, and the Sheriff typically oversees deputies, not officers.

Im still kind of shocked, Amanda McCullough who lives in Pueblo West and received the letter said, she learned it was fake from News5, weve never gotten a letter like this before. So really, all that mattered to me was the subject registered sexually violent predator- that's all I needed to know, really.

McCullough is a mother of two and took the letter at face value; she warned her 9 and 12-year-olds.

My husband and I mentioned it to them right away and had to explain what a predator was, McCullough said.

Colorado law does require law enforcement agencies to notify the public when a sexually violent predator moves into a neighborhood.

The Pueblo County Sheriffs Office does not send mail, but sends out news releases and updates its website and social media with the information.

As House lives in Colorado Springs, he also reported it to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), which confirmed an investigation is underway. The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office is also investigating.

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The El Paso County Health Plan Trust Board reversed its decision Wednesday morning to begin charging longtime retirees for healthcare benefits.

News5 was first to report that retirees learned earlier this month that their healthcare, which was previously free to retirees with more than 20 years of service to the county, would cost them $56.08 a month in 2026. By 2027, they would be charged the full active retiree amount, yet to be determined. The 2026 full amount is $112.16.

The board is made up of both elected officials and county leaders.

Previously, County Administrator Bret Waters said he was under the impression that the benefit for long-time retirees was not something that had been officially communicated to retirees as a benefit. He later learned that wasn't the case.

"I received a number of emails from retirees with letters sent by the retirement office in El Paso County that stated that those benefits were free. I think someone could presume thats free forever, free for life," Waters said.

The reversal of the decision, which was made at the boards September meeting, was met with applause from retirees who attended Wednesday morning. The benefit applies to retirees under the age of 65 who would qualify for Medicare.

"[I'm] relieved, for our retirees and for myself obviously," Lisa Powell, a retired emergency preparedness manager for El Paso County Public Health said, "this was an earned benefit, it wasn't a perk, it wasn't a fringe."

Powell, who retired in 2022 after 32 years working for the county, said she found out about the benefit changes through a letter.

"This was not a good decision made for people who spent their lives serving our community, and to have it quickly dismissed as if our work didn't matter," Powell said.

A third-party study presented to the board in September showed that benefits, excluding pensions, for all retirees carry a $147 million liability for the county. With that in mind, the board was looking at ways to save costs.

Every benefit plan shifts over time; in this case, we were looking at the fiscal sustainability," Waters said.

"We're going to look at the entire picture again, the entire medical plan again," Waters said "really our goal is to make sure this is a sustainable plan."

297 retirees fall into the category of more than 20 years of service to the county and are receiving healthcare benefits, the study showed the county would have saved about $200,000 in 2026 if it began charging retirees.

When asked if charging retirees for benefits is something that would come up in the future, Waters said he does not plan on bringing any motions in the future for retirees or those on the verge of retirement.

"If I was a retiree, I'd rest pretty easy on that because I simply don't think it will be reconsidered, at least from my perspective" Waters said.

The board passed the decision unanimously to begin charging retirees with more than 20 years of service for healthcare benefits at its September meeting, but three board members, including Sheriff Joe Roybal and Clerk and Recorder Steve Schlieker, were not present.

Roybal and Schleiker both spoke during the board meeting on Wednesday morning.

"A promise made should be a promise kept," Roybal said.

Schleiker said he was disappointed in the previous decision and by reversing course, "it was a symbol of respect and gratitude to those who have dedicated their lives to El Paso County."

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Colorado Springs City Council will get its first look at the proposed 2026 budget Monday morning.

The city is expecting a $31 million shortfall for the 2026 budget year as revenues fall flat in 2025 and expenses for the city are increasing.

What the city is experiencing is what many American families are experiencing, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade said, because people are not spending [money], because there's a lot of uncertainty, therefore, the city does not have the revenues that we typically have.

Other cities across Colorado are facing budget shortfalls including Denver and Aurora.

The cost of materials, whether its asphalt, you name it, everything is more expensive, Mobolade said.

The mayor added while costs are going up, there are also contracts the city is locked into for things like body worn cameras.

We don't control that [the cost], Mobolade said, we can try to negotiate that, but our options are do we continue that [contract] or do we find a new vendor and finding a new vendor could potentially set us backwards, and so sometimes it might be easier to just endure the cost of this technological platform that is effective and we know, keeps our community safe, and we can keep it all moving, Mobolade said.

As the city continues to review the proposed budget, increasing sales tax revenue will also be top of mind.

Other contracts, such as those with non-profits and organizations like the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC have the opportunity for negotiation in the event of budget issues, Mobolade said.

Last month, the city announced cost-saving measures its taking ahead of the anticipated shortfall. It includes five mandatory unpaid furlough days for city employees next year. Employees making more than $72,000 a year will take an additional two unpaid days in 2026.

The mayor said public safety is the priority despite the anticipated budget shortfall.

I'm not apologizing for prioritizing public safety because it's not just a priority for me. It's a priority for our residents. When you look at all the data and the polls and surveys and town halls, that is the number one issue on the top of our residents' minds, Mobolade said.

Additionally, the Meadows Park Community Center is closing October 10. The city said it was due to program demand, and the loss of a key contract to fund youth programs.

The city still owns the physical building, but said the center was not financially viable. Mobolade said there are plans to get community input on what should be in the center in the future.

There are a lot of conversations actually about what a potential thing could be in that building that doesn't have to be city run. It's a cost for the city to run those programs and run that center is what we're cutting, Mobolade said.

Whether or not the city would consider selling the building is something Mobolade said was a possibility.

If that makes sense. I mean, yes, everything is on the table. If we sell it, could I use that money to help some of our efforts, but at the end of the day, that building will be occupied with something new that will bring hope and flourish into the community. I just don't know what that is, Mobolade said.

News5 requested participation data from the city, heres the information provided.

Data on Community Center participation provided by City of Colorado Springs

Meadows Park Community Center  

Hillside Community Center

Youth programs: Afterschool program ~30 youth daily (MonFri). 

Senior programs:

Food distribution: 70+ people per month across 2 days 

Deerfield Hills Community Center

Youth programs: Playgroup 810 youth per class, monthly

Subtotal: ~1930 seniors weekly.

Food distribution:

 Westside Community Center

Senior programs:

Subtotal: ~7080 seniors weekly.

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Maybe youve heard of someone taking GLP-1s, or youve seen celebrities like Serena Williams talk about taking them for weight loss.

Over the past few years, its been sold to consumers as a quick fix to lose weight. Going to places like med spas or weight loss clinics, people have gotten ahold of compounded versions of the drugs. These businesses are typically staffed with a medical provider such as a Nurse Practitioner.

Its not the name-brand version or even a generic, its a drug created using similar ingredients found in the name brand.

What is a GLP-1?

Glucagon-like peptide 1, more commonly known as GLP-1 are typically injectable drugs. The drug mimics a hormone in the body that regulates blood sugar and appetite, and weight loss is a common side effect of the drug.

The GLP-1s were all initially done for type two diabetes, Dr. Bob Wilcox, a weight loss surgeon in Colorado Springs said.

Wilcox said his business has been impacted by people taking GLP-1s versus seeking out weight loss surgery. At the same time, nearly everyone who comes in for weight loss surgery has already tried a GLP-1.

People ask me about what do I think about the GLP one? So I'm like, whatever, whatever happens to try to help people lose weight, and see the dramatic health benefit, Wilcox said.

Wilcox said its typically given to patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27 or more, with a comorbidity thats likely to improve with weight loss.

They've been shown to have great results for a lot of medical problems that are associated with obesity and some excess weight, Wilcox said.

The main ingredients used for GLP-1s are semaglutide, which is in drugs like Ozempic, and terzepatide, which is in drugs like Mounjaro and Zepbound.

The Compound Market

In 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed semaglutide on its drug shortage list because of an increased demand. It was removed in April of 2025 when the FDA declared the shortage was over.

When a drug is placed on the FDA shortage, compounding pharmacies are allowed to produce a compound version of the drug in bulk.

Compounds contain similar ingredients as the original drug, but may come in a different dose or be mixed in with something like vitamin B12.

When the drug is not on the shortage list, a compounded drug can only be produced for a patient-specific prescription.

Typically in the compounded world, what that might be is I struggle with swallowing a pill. So maybe I'm very young or very old, so a compounder will produce a powder form, said Michael Distefano, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus said.

DiStefano published research on the direct-to-consumer compounded GLP-1 Market in Colorado earlier this year. The research identified nearly 200 locations selling compounded GLP-1s in Colorado.

Compounded medications can be very safe. Right. The vast majority of them probably are very safe, DiStefano said.

Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, but there are regulations for compounding pharmacies at the state level.

The research found most of the businesses advertising compounded GLP-1 either advertised as a medical spa or a weight loss clinic.

We did see that in many cases, the businesses are referring to the compounded medication, or they're using the term FDA approved across their website, DiStefano said.

Thats not the only claim DiStefano found; ingredients that are in trial were also advertised.

You'd also see things like I think in close to half of the business websites, we saw the compounded drug referred to as a generic, which also is not the case, right? Generic drugs do have to show like bioequivalence to their branded analogues.

There is currently no generic Ozempic in the United States.

The Cost of Weight Loss Drugs

DiStefano and four other researchers conducted studies in 2024 while the shortage for semaglutide were still in place.

These GLP-1 drugs were pretty fascinating in that the data for them was extremely good, but they also just had very high prices, DiStefano said.

Prices for drugs like Ozempic can run about $500 without insurance, Mounjaro can run upwards of $1,000.

A lot of insurers, given how widespread obesity is in this country were very reluctant to just give broad coverage, DiStefano said.

DiStefano studies drug prices and said part of what led him to the research was seeing advertisements for GLP-1s while watching baseball and speaking with colleagues who knew people taking compounded GLP-1s. We thought there might be something there, DiStefano said.

He added there are budget concerns when it comes to giving broad coverage of weight loss drugs.

Well, the drugs are just expensive, right?, DiStefano said, and a lot of people are overweight, and so if you were to just pay for these drugs for everyone, right, who meet the, you know, the FDA, BMI threshold, etc., you would spend a lot of money up front.

Additionally, Medicaid and Medicare programs do not cover the drugs.

So that's just a lot of people don't have access to insurance coverage for the drug, and so they are the ones who will turn to the compound, DiStefano said.

The cost is likely to come down in 2027, Ozempic and WeGovy, another GLP-1, was selected for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Meaning the cost of the drug will come down.

Access to Compounded GLP-1s

News5Investigates took a hidden camera inside businesses offering GLP-1s to take a look at the market in Colorado Springs. There were three clinics we took a hidden camera into to see the experience ourselves and we were provided with three different answers.

One clinic denied us, saying the BMI threshold to get a GLP-1 would be 25. Another clinic said additional testing would need to done to determine eligibilitiy. A third clinic was willing to ship the GLP-1 at a starting price of $200.

Wilcox previously offered compounded GLP-1s through his practice, when it was removed from the FDA shortage list he stopped providing the drug.

Its buyer beware basically, Wilcox said.

Mental Health Impact

Holy Cow, theyre really doing this, Janice Van Anrooy, a therapist who specializes in eating disorders in Colorado Springs, said in response to hidden camera footage from News5Investigates.

Opinions on the mental health impacts of GLP-1s are mixed, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).

On one side, the APA said it can help people with body image issues, on the other side, it can lead to issues like depression and suicidal thoughts. Various studies show differing outcomes for people from a mental health standpoint.

Its an epidemic in our country, the drive for thinness, VanAnrooy said, we're not looking at the underlying reasons that that person has the obesity problem in the first place. That's where we need to go backwards and look at that, Van Anrooy said.

VanAnrooy is concerned with access to GLP-1s that someone struggling with an eating disorder may try and get hold of GLP-1s. She added that eating disorders impact people of all ages and genders.

In her 38 years as a therapist, she said in the beginning she hardly saw male patients, now its about one third of her caseload.

I'm shocked at that, VanAnrooy said.

Eating disorders are something VanAnrooy feels is a side effect of a mental health issue.

It's not about what they look like, its about what they feel like. It's the symptomology of what's going on underneath with the mental health aspect, VanAnrooy said.

She points to family dynamics, mental health issues like anxiety and stress, especially for young people with social media.

That's what I help people do is find an authentic connection that makes sense, that you can sit down at the family meal at dinner and put the electronics down, VanAnrooy said.

Colorados Attorney General joined a lawsuit with 36 other states earlier this year, urging the FDA to enforce regulations surrounding compounded GLP-1s as well as cracking down on counterfeit versions of the drug.

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Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade has said he wants to see minimal impacts to public safety as the city faces a $31 million budget shortfall.

Earlier this month, the city announced steps its taking amid the shortfall. It includes mandatory furlough days, and additional furlough days for employees making more than $72,000 a year.

Additionally about 40 civilians jobs are being cut across the city.

In his State of the City address at The Broadmoor Thursday morning, Mobolade said public safety is, and will remain, a top priority for my administration. The Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC sponsors the event at the resort every year.

While public safety is the priority, the Colorado Springs Police Department is not immune to the budget impacts facing the city. CSPD is currently implementing what it called significant overtime restrictions in a presentation given to city council members last month.

Chief of Police Adrian Vasquez said the cuts on overtime will not impact police response to incidents like a barricaded suspect, Vasquez gave as an ecxample.

We used to spend a lot more time doing community engagement, Vasquez said, community engagement is where officers go out to neighborhoods to establish relationships in the community, we had to back up on those kinds of things that are not about the response or targeting of prolific offenders, the response to investigations of crime, that's the balance, we really have to pay attention and strike.

For 2025, CSPD has a budget of $4,952,704 for overtime. Typically when CSPD goes over that it can pull from other sources in the budget to make up for the cost, thats not the case anymore. The 2026 budget has not been approved by city council, but the proposed budget includes the same amount as 2025 for overtime.

Here's the thing, I want to make sure I also message to my officers, which I have done, we will never impact the safety of those officers, Vasquez said about cutting back on overtime. Vasquez said the communication to officers inside the department includes supervisors looking at the needs for operation and the necessary number of officers to complete it.

Overtime is not the only concern for CSPD, Vasquez said grant money just ended last week for a DUI enforcement grant.

So now we have to really balance do we do as much DUI enforcement? That's where we may see some impact, Vasquez said, we're going to have to find the money for things like that, there may be impacts on things just like that.

There are other ways CSPD is managing costs, including cutting back on high cost items like vehicles.

We've done really well at replacing vehicles over the last couple of years. Do we have to do that for the next two years? Let's take that budget, move it over to things like overtime, Vasquez said.

Despite the budget impacts, Vasquez pointed to improvement on response times by CSPD and the 911 call center.

When I look at what's happening in our community, Im really pleased that when you look at our crime stats, they are looking better than I can remember in the last years, Vasquez said.

Numbers from CSPD showas of August of this year, homicide and manslaughter cases are down 34 percent and motor vehicle thefts are down 43 percent.

That speaks volumes to a lot of things, Vasquez said.

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Pueblo County Commissioners went through 16 applications to select the next Coroner for the county and out of five finalists landed on Gregory Grahek, a nurse practitioner for the position.

The former coroner, Brian Cotter, resigned after state inspectors found 24 bodies improperly stored inside his privately-owned business, Davis Mortuary, which he co-owns with his brother.

Grahek will still need to pass a background check, and commissioners will need to pass a formal resolution to appoint him to the office; he will then need to be sworn in.

Tuesday started off busy for Grahek as he saw patients at the family practice he co-owns with two other doctors. He then got a phone call from the county attorney saying he had been selected as the countys next coroner. He said it wasnt a lot of fanfare and thats something fitting for the position.

The first thing that needs to be handled [is] to kind of calm the community and bring back integrity to the position, Grahek said, this is not a glamorous political position to start with. The position of the coroner is to serve the community.

Grahek co-owns a family practice clinic with two other doctors. He is a nurse practitioner with a doctorate in nursing practice. He holds a masters and two bachelors degrees. He said prior to working in medicine, he had an appraisal firm.

The commissioner's choice for coroner is a registered Republican and said he believes the coroners office is not about politics.

I want to emphasize that this is a bipartisan position, really, Grahek said, I mean, death doesn't select only Democrats or only Republicans, It doesn't make a difference.

I've ran across patients and friends and staff that had some kind of indirect connection to the calamity that occurred, Grahek said about the controversy involving the coroners office. What do you do in medicine? You help, and so that's what prompted me to do so.

Graheks wife is also running for a State Senate Seat in 2026, the senate district represents the entire county.

If Grahek eventually runs for coroner in 2026, he will need to obtain one of two credentials. He can either become a forensic pathologist, which requires a medical degree, or he can become a certified death investigator through the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI).

He said he plans to get that certification as soon as possible, but says he is not sure if he will run yet in 2026.

You know, this was not a political move on my part. This was the community was in a need. In medicine, we're obligated to help when someone needs it, and so I threw my hat in. It had no bearing on any other aspirations or family associations, Grahek said.

Grahek provided his resume to News5 to show his professional experience.

Commissioners discussed the five finalists they interviewed during their meeting Tuesday morning.

Four of the five finalists were then ranked for the final choice through survey monkey, an online survey platform. Commissioners Zach Swearingen and Paula McPheeters voted for Gregory Grahek as their top choice for the position.

Commissioner Miles Lucero selected Zolanye McCulley-Bachicha as his top choice. Concerns came up from McPheeters for a possible conflict of interest for McCulley-Bachicha because she does marketing for her familys funeral home.

Lucero brought up concerns Grahek would not be able to devote enough time to the office as he has a full time job as a primary care provider.

To me, this coroner's job needs to be this persons laser focus, professionally, Lucero said.

Grahek pointed out that the coroner before Cotter was Jim Kramer, a physicians assistant who held the position for nearly 40 years.

He did that for many, many years, very well, without any hiccups, Grahek said. He added that his kids are grown and he can give his attention to the office and to his practice.

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Voters in Palmer Lake passed an ordinance on Tuesday that will require annexations to be approved by voters instead of relying solely on the towns board of trustees.

The move comes after the town faced controversy over its elected officials approving eligibility for a flagpole annexation involving a proposed site for a Buc-ee's location to be annexed into town limits. Voters also recalled two trustees because of the decision.

In Colorado Springs, where annexations and land use issues come up often for its city council, it raised the questions, Could this happen in Colorado Springs? and would it work?

Not too long ago, voters in Colorado Springs weighed in on annexation themselves at the ballot. A June 17 special election asked voters whether or not they wanted a nearly 2,000 acre plot of land known as Karman Line east of city limits to be annexed in to Colorado Springs.

It failed overwhelmingly with 81.92% of voters rejecting the proposal that Colorado Springs City Council had previously approved. A group of people then led the effort to trigger a special election for the decision.

Three council members: Dave Donelson, Nancy Henjum, and Brian Risley spoke to News5 about whether or not this is something that could happen or even work in Colorado Springs.

Both Donelson and Henjum voted against Karman Line when it came before council, the other seven council members at the time, including Risley voted to approve it.

I would say actually thats not ideal, Henjum, who represents City Council District 5, said about putting all annexations on the ballot, "I mean land use matters is the bulk of what we do."

For Henjum, she points out that city council members are elected to make these decisions on behalf of their constituents.

Annexations are, in fact, really complex, and there's lots of factors, from economic development to infrastructure to, you know, all the things that that impact a city, any municipality. So I think ideally, it really is a decision that should be made by informed elected officials that are representing the people, Henjum said.

She added that she felt city council was not listening to constituents during Karman Line discussions.

I actually don't love that that went to the voters, I think what we need to say to the voters is we heard you, and clearly there's something that we're missing, Henjum said.

The process to approve annexations is lengthy, theres a petition that land owners fill out and the city can decide whether or to approve or reject it. After that, theres multiple other steps and presentations to both Colorado Springs city council and the planning commission.

There are a lot of very important milestones and boxes that need to be checked along the way. Everything from utility infrastructure, the cost of utilities, who pays for the utility expense or infrastructure cost. For a city like Colorado Springs police and fire and other public safety expectations, Risley, an at-large member of city council said.

Risley echoed Henjums sentiment that city council serves as a representative government. He also brought up concerns that Palmer Lakes ballot question could lead to some legal discussions.

I think the implications for the city would be extreme, he said about putting annexations to the ballot, one from a pure cost standpoint, but two, procedurally.

The cost of the June special election in Colorado Springs was $500,000.

Risley also raised concerns over how the process will play out in Palmer Lake.

There will be a a long process to determine whether it's one valid, two legal, and three procedurally, how it dovetails with the state statutes regarding annexations, Risley said.

Risley faced criticism over comments he made after the special election where he said he felt voters did not understand the nuances of the Karman Line decision he and six other council members initially approved.

"I stand by that statement. I was not calling our voters, uneducated. I was not saying that people don't know what they're voting on. I was simply saying that there are a lot of nuances when it comes to these types of decisions, and our job as elected officials is to be fully educated on what we're voting on," Risley said. " I don't know that everyone who gets a ballot in the mail spends tens or hundreds of hours researching the topic, going to hearings, listening to all sides of an argument, and then ultimately making a decision," Risley said.

Councilman Dave Donelson said he thinks he would support putting annexations on the ballot for voters, in certain circumstances.

It may be that in Colorado Springs we need to allow smaller annexations just to be approved by city council, say below 50 acres. I don't know what that amount is. We'd have to work with [the] planning department and other stakeholders to figure that out, Donelson said.

Council members say most of the annexations that come before council tend to be smaller proposals, often times they are enclaves currently surrounded by springs city limits. Larger annexations like Karman Line and Amara, which was a proposed 3,200-acre annexation rejected by council, are more rare.

He said Karman Line is an example that the council is not operating in the interest of voters and that it may be necessary to put annexations on the ballot.

If we want to grow by thousands and thousands of additional acres, we need citizen buy in on that. We shouldn't do it as a body of nine here, with 82% of the citizens thinking it's a bad idea, but we do it anyway, Donelson said.

When it comes to the cost of annexation special elections, Donelson said he believes elections happen often enough that annexations could be included in those elections.

City elections are held in April of odd-numbered years, the city can refer ballot questions for coordinated elections in November.

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For many people, there are places, scents, and people that remind us of who we love most. For Nicole Rider, Pinelles Bowlero Lanes on Midtown Circle is the place she feels most connected to her dad, Mel Emerson.

She was just 11 years old when he died from kidney cancer.

I was so little, I didn't know how to feel, you know, you're 11, you're not equipped with how to deal with your dad being dead, Rider said.

On a Wednesday morning, bowling leagues were hitting strikes and spares as Rider recalled the days of her childhood spent at the bowling alley with her dad.

I think I may have spent more time with this bowling alley than I did my own childhood home, because we were always here bowling, Rider said.

Emerson was a talented bowler, winning tournaments and at one point even worked at the bowling alley. Several family members are still in leagues and have also worked at the bowling alley.

The bowling alley is where she's gone to honor her dads memory over the years, its even where she met her husband.

My little brother was bowling in a tournament and I said, hey, you want to come sit with me? And that was the first time we met. And if that's not my dad intervening, Rider said.

Her dad died February 2011, but days ago she experienced a new form of grief, this time paired with anger and betrayal.

My trust in anyone is very diminished now, Rider said.

Four families, including Riders were notified this week that their loved ones remains were among the 24 bodies investigators discovered hidden inside Davis Mortuary. The Mortuary is co-owed by Former Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter and his brother.

We had trusted Brian and Chris Cotter with my father's body and when they came to take this body, Brian looked my mom in the eyes and said, thank you for trusting me with one last thing, and to say that trust has been betrayed, is a major understatement, Rider said.

Rider learned her dad was among the bodies found through her Mom. She said her Mom got a call a Sunday and by Monday she had an appointment with the Pueblo County Sheriff. Rider said her mom called her and said she was coming over and thats when she knew.

Its like reliving the worst part of my childhood, Rider said, it's like I am grieving the loss of my dad all over It's like. It's like he died again.

Rider learned about the initial discovery of remains while she was out of town, she said she was reading an article and not even thinking her dad could be among the bodies inside.

My older brother sent me the screenshot, he texted it to me of the article and said didnt they cremate dad? And thats when it clicked in my head and I immediately called my mom, Rider said.

Her love for her dad surpasses her grief, Riders face lit up immediately when she recalled the moments that made her dad so special to her as a young girl. She wears a necklace with a photo of her dad holding her the day she was born, and has a tattoo on her arm reading love ya dad in his handwriting.

He was the best dad anybody could ask for, Rider said, he was a funny guy, he was always making someone laugh and he never met a stranger.

Rider said her family is planning another memorial service for her dad, she says shes also been reaching out to lawmakers and making her voice heard.

I want to make sure that charges are pressed to the fullest extent of law, Rider said, I don't care who I have to call, I don't care who I have to email. I will be heard, and I want, I want justice. Nothing's ever going to take this pain away, but I want justice for my dad. He didn't deserve that.

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Former Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotters privately-owned mortuary, Davis Mortuary, did business with the county years before he was elected to office. Years later, his mortuary entered an agreement with a state agency for business.

The business agreements with governments are just a few items News5 discovered through a series of open records requests.

Cotter Family Funeral Services, the legal business name for Davis Mortuary, received payments from Pueblo County up until the end of January 2015, the same month Cotter was sworn into office.

Colorado state law says its a conflict of interest for a county coroner who owns a funeral home to direct business to their funeral home in their official capacity as coroner.

Davis Mortuary did not have a contract in 2015 when Cotter first began his role as coroner. Months later, a new transportation contractor started getting paid by Pueblo County.

Financial documents obtained by News5 from the county also shows the Pueblo County Coroners office has been paying thousands of dollars for a new building starting in 2022.

The new building on Santa Fe Avenue costs $21,120 a month, but theres not a chiller or refrigerator so the coroners office is still operating out of its office on Midtown Circle Drive, which costs $2,625 a month.

While Davis Mortuary hasnt been doing business with the county, it received a contract from the states Department of Corrections (DOC) beginning in January 2024.

The contract was for transporting and cremating the remains of people who die in state prisons. An additional contract was put in place from January of 2025 to June 2025.

While Davis Mortuary was contracted to cremate remains, its crematory license for the state expired in Nov. 2024, Department of Regulatory Agency (DORA) officials said they believe Davis Mortuary has not conducted cremations for at least a decade.

Davis Mortuary did work with Montgomery-Steward, another funeral home in Pueblo, for its cremations. Montgomery-Steward told News5 it began doing cremations with the business in July 2017, it has agreements with multiple other funeral homes in the area and New Mexico.

As part of the agreement with the DOC, Davis Mortuary was not supposed to subcontract out work without prior written approval.

DOC told News5 it contracted work to Davis Mortuary 42 times totaling about $52,000 paid to the Mortuary.

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Three people, including a leader for a civil rights organization in Pueblo, have submitted a notice of intent to Pueblo County to recall the Coroner, Brian Cotter.

Cotter is under investigation after state inspectors discovered bodies improperly stored at his privately owned business, Davis Mortuary, which he co-owns with his brother.

For David Jiron, picking up the effort seemed like an easy decision.

Human nature is programmed to think 'oh, I dont need to get involved,somebody else will do it,' Jiron said. I didnt like that, waiting for somebody to get the ball rolling, so our organization, being a civil rights organization,... thought it was the perfect opportunity to put this into action.

Jiron called the actions Cotter is accused of unacceptable.

Pueblos Hector Garcia Place honors a civil rights leader who paved the way for Mexican-Americans serving the military. Thats where the American GI Forum building sits in Pueblo, where Jiron is the Vice Commander.

The organization got its start after World War II to combat discrimination against Mexican-American veterans. One of the main issues for its founder was fighting to get a proper burial for a veteran who was refused burial in Texas.

Although its a different type of battle [the recall], it still needs to be treated, and the families need to be treated with dignity and respond and the deceased need to be treated with dignity and respect, so that was our motivation to get involved, to ensure that these people are getting the justice that they deserve as well, said Jiron.

Jiron, along with community members Paulette Anaya and Annette Garcia, filed the notice of intent this week. The Pueblo County Clerk and Recorders Office will now estimate the cost of the recall and then approve petitions to be circulated for the organizers.

Organizers will then have 60 days to collect the number of valid signatures, which Jiron says is about 16,000.

Regardless of whether hes guilty or not, the conduct is unacceptable. I mean, we dont know whether hes guilty of anything nefarious, we have our opinions, of course, everybody has one, we just need to hold him accountable, so hes not collecting taxpayer funds while the process is playing out, Jiron said.

According to Pueblo County, Cotter receives an annual salary of $131,701. Cotter could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

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Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter is currently under investigation for improperly storing bodies inside his private business, a mortuary.

News5Investigates found funeral home employees are not barred from running or holding the Coroners office, but there are few currently holding the position in the state.

He co-owns Davis Mortuary with his brother, and reports from state investigators showed the coroner admitted that some remains had been in the building for 15 years. The coroner also admitted to giving families fake cremains.

In Colorados 64 counties, News5Investigates found eight, including Pueblo County, that have a coroner who also runs or works for a funeral home in the local area.

While Colorado law does not ban funeral home industry workers from holding the office, state law does say it is a conflict of interest. The conflict of interest means the coroner cannot suggest using their business for county business while in office. However, state law also says the conflict of interest does not apply if an emergency situation exists and the coroner acts in good faith to prevent a health hazard.

Most coroners working in counties with smaller populations had experience as a deputy coroner before running for office, other common experience listed was for jobs in healthcare and law enforcement.

In larger counties, with populations of more than 150,000, coroners were either Forensic Pathologists or Certified Death Investigators with the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI). In 2024, state law changed to require candidates running for coroner in these larger counties to have one of those qualifications. The law went into effect in November 2024, which for most counties will apply to the November 2026 election.

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By his own admission in state documents, the Pueblo County Coroner's private business had improperly stored bodies for 15 years. He's held elected office for 10 years and in that time even advocated for higher standards for those seeking his office in the future.

State inspectors believe there may be about 20 bodies that were improperly stored inside Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, which is co-owned by the coroner, Brian Cotter, and his brother. Law enforcement says theyve spoken to both of them and while nobody has been arrested, police do not believe they are flight risks.

Cotter was first elected as coroner in 2014. In his decade in the office, he also advocated at the state capitol to limit who could run for his position.

During the 2024 legislative session, a bill to increase coroner qualifications was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis. It required those running for the office in Colorados counties with a population of more than 150,000 to be either a certified death investigator or a certified forensic pathologist. Previously, the requirements were limited to being eligible to vote in the county someone runs in, not a felon, and have a high school diploma.

Cotter testified in both House and Senate committees as the bill was making its way through the legislature last year. At the same time he was advocating for higher standards, his mortuary business was improperly storing bodies.

Ive had two reelection campaigns, both campaigns, Cotter told legislators, the individual that challenged me for the position, the two individuals that did had absolutely no experience, no training of any kind, no certification, and neither one of them had ever worked in the legal medical death investigation field.

The challengers Cotter spoke of were Troy Newman in 2018 and Zolanye McCulley-Bachicha in 2022. McCulley-Bachicha previously worked as an emergency room nurse, and according to her campaign website, was raised in the business as her family has owned a funeral home in Pueblo for more than 50 years.

Cotter admitted to state inspectors this week that some bodies inside a room hidden behind a cardboard display had been there for 15 years. While the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it does not have an official count of how many bodies were in that room, a director from the states Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) said they believed it was about 20.

Since Cotter is both a business owner at the center of this investigation and the elected official who would typically process the scene, it has led to other elected leaders calling for his resignation and more changes in state law to remove someone like Cotter from office in the event an incident like this occurring.

During Fridays news conference, Governor Polis was asked if it was time to reconsider electing coroners in Colorado, as other states have regional medical examiner models.

I dont have a strong opinion on that [electing coroners] one one way or the other where I do have a strong opinion and I think frankly we can agree needs to be reformed after this is the way you remove a coroner from office that is subject to a criminal investigation, unable to do their job, Polis said.

RELATED: 20 bodies or so' found behind 'hidden' door at Pueblo County coroner's private business

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Tuesday night, Colorado Springs voters will know the results of a special election to determine whether a proposed development near Schriever Space Force Base should be annexed into the city limits.

Text messages, mail fliers, and signs throughout the city have been seen in various ways to try and get you to vote a certain way.

News5 took a look at who is funding each campaign based on campaign finance data available through the citys website.

There are two primary groups registered for the campaigns Citizens to Stop Illogical Growth for the opposition and Stand Against Monopolies for the proponents of Issue 1.

Citizens to Stop Illogical Growth is made up of local community members, the registered agent is Ann Rush, who lives near the proposed development. In one of the early campaign finance filings, it shows more than $400,000 given to the group in in-kind contributions from the group Defend Colorado.

The contributions related to efforts for the signature-gathering petitions to trigger the special election.

When News5 asked Rush who was behind the group Defend Colorado, she encouraged News5 to reach out to the group directly.

Defend Colorados website lists an email, which News5 sent questions to including if they were affiliated with Norwood, a prominent developer in Colorado Springs. Defend Colorado is a 501(c)4 and is not required to disclose its donors.

Its a claim thats been made by supporters of the ballot issue.

News5 also reached out to Daniel Cole, who owns the canvassing firm used to collect signatures for the campaign. He confirmed Defend Colorado funded the effort but said he could not give out their contact information.

The same group contributed thousands of dollars during the 2023 city election.

One for a group called Citizens for Protecting our Water, which backed then-mayoral candidate Wayne Williams and another to Citizens for Responsible Leadership, which backed a slate of city council candidates.

News5 also found a complaint filed by the group in 2021, and found former Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri working with the group.

The proponents of Issue 1 reported $200,000 in contributions all coming from Norris Ranch Joint Ventures, which is the group that owns the land for Karman Line.

Norris Ranch Joint Ventures is made up of three entities including the Kevin ONeil, who owns the ONeil Group, and two other groups, Norris Ranch Development LLC, and FBLLC, which is an LLC registered in Wyoming that Eli Bremer is a part of.

The ONeil group is a part of One Vela which recently received approval to build what will become the tallest building in downtown Colorado Springs at 27 stories.

On the campaigns website it says La Plata Group owns zero percent of the project.

La Plata Communities, a local developer, formed a new company with the ONeil group earlier this year known as One La Plata which is the reported developer on the project.

Another campaign finance reporting deadline is scheduled for later this week, which will include additional data about the spending and contributions during the bulk of the campaign season.

The deadline to turn in ballots for the special election is June 17th at 7 p.m.

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As Colorado Springs grows, a question for many is whether the city has enough water to support the community.

Its a topic thats come up as voters are deciding whether a proposed development near Schriever Space Force Base, known as Karman Line, should be annexed into the existing city limits.

Proponents of the development argue Colorado Springs has enough water. Further south from the city in rural communities along the Lower Arkansas River Valley, theres concern about how Colorado Springs growth will impact their own economic vitality and quality of life.

For everything gained, something is lost, Mike Bartolo, a retired agriculture researcher and farmer in Rocky Ford, a community in Otero County about an hour and a half southeast of Colorado Springs said, what keeps me up in the night is that, like, we're not valued in this community and that I'm going to wake up one day and I'm going to say, what did we do for the kids and our grandkids?.

Bartolo has concerns not only with water supply, but water quality in his community. The city of Aurora purchased thousands of acres of land in Otero County decades ago, the land comes with water rights that he said impacts the countys economic viability.

The land Aurora owns is undergoing revegetation, but Bartolo said that land cant necessarily be used for farming or development, leaving his community concerned about how it can grow economically.

Recently, several local governments, including Otero County have passed resolutions opposing new annexations in Colorado Springs. Tim Knabenshue, one of three commissioners in the county said there's concern over property rights and the economic future of the county.

"I don't want to infringe on somebody's rights to negotiate with Colorado Springs," Knabenshue said, "I want private property to have that ability to still negotiate and ability, but I also want to make sure that the county is is taken care of when it comes to the economics of it."

In 2023, Colorado Springs City Council passed an ordinance requiring the citys water supply to be at 128 percent of its annual use in order to approve new annexations into the city.

A presentation by Springs Utilities shows the Karman Line annexation would meet that requirement. The same presentation also shows the city will need to secure additional water in the future, up to 34,000 acre feet in the coming decades, to keep up with the water supply of the citys growth.

An acre-foot is the size of a football field filled one foot deep of water. Springs Utilities says one acre-foot can support 3-4 families a year.

Springs Utilities said it plans to close the gap through conservation efforts, reuse mechanisms, and agricultural water sharing among other efforts.

People like Bartolo are worried that this means communities like Otero County will be susceptible to buy and dry agreements, where the city would purchase land for the water rights and leave land vacant.

So history tells us that they're continually going to add to that water portfolio. And they do that a little bit by conservation, a little bit by some storage arrangements, but by and large, by the buying and drying of agricultural water rights, Bartolo said.

Springs Utilities said it does not participate in large-scale buy and dry agreements. It points to its water sharing program, which offers efficient water sprinklers to farmers in exchange for leasing water rights.

Proponents of the Karman Line annexation point to a data point Springs Utilities used in its presentation earlier this year as part of the reason the city is equipped with the necessary amount of water. The proposed development that voters are deciding on is expected to create about 6,500 homes near Schriever Space Force Base.

Karman Lines land is adjacent to city-owned land, that is expected to become the Gary Bostrom Reservoir. Springs Utilities said the reservoir will be built when the demand is needed, but expects it to happen before 2050.

Colorado Springs residents are amazing conservationists. If you look over the last 30 years, we're using the same amount of water that we did 30 years ago, Eli Bremer, one of the founding partners on Karman Line said.

Springs Utilities Reliably Met Demand, or the amount of water it can reasonably support each year, is 95,000 acre feet. This number is used to account for the risk of dry years. In a dry year, Springs Utilities said it may only be able to divert 50,000 acre feet, but in an average year, it could yield up to 125,000 acre feet.

So the truth is that we're putting native grasses into our lawns. We're doing conservation efforts that are leading to us being way more efficient, Bremer said.

COLORADO SPRINGS WATER SUPPLY

In a presentation earlier this year, Utilities shows a buffer of about 25,000 acre feet between the Reliably Met Demand and how much is actually used, which is about 70,000 acre feet.

Bartolo feels that a buffer is necessary and it should be considered as Colorado Springs looks to build additional housing.

So even though you know, we may think, oh, we've got this extra water, like I said, Mother Nature doesn't care. She could turn off the faucet next week and we could be out of water. So we need to respect that, Bartolo said.

Proponents of Karman Line say the issue is not owning water, pointing to data from Colorado Springs Utilities that shows it owns more than 450,000 acre feet. According to Springs Utilities, that number refers to storage rights, not water that can be used. Of the 450,000, only about 260,000 acre feet of storage have been developed.

The rights of water the city can divert for use is 250,000 acre-feet. However, Utilities said it has never reached that number because Mother Nature has not produced that much water.

Colorado Springs Utilities has also put out its own points of clarification ahead of the special election on June 17, where voters will decide if Karman Line should be annexed in to Colorado Springs.

Ballots need to be turned in no later than 7 p.m. on June 17. For more election information, visit the following link: Colorado Springs Election Information.

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Jurors have found two people from Colorado Springs guilty of staging what investigators called a "hate crime hoax" leading up to the Colorado Springs 2023 Mayoral Runoff election.

Ashley Blackcloud and Derrick Bernard were both found guilty of two counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States and for conveying false information about a threat by using fire.

The pair was charged after investigators said they created a video showing a burning cross in front of Mobolades campaign signs and sent it to media outlets to try to gain sympathy for Mobolade.

Sentencing for Bernard will be held on September 11, and Blackcloud's is set for September 17. Deanna West, a third defendant who pleaded guilty in the case, will be sentenced September 4.

After the jury delivered the verdict, Bernard's attorney asked for each juror to be polled individually. The judge then went through and asked each of the twelve jurors if this was their verdict. They each said yes.

Bernard was sentenced to life in state prison without parole for ordering the 2019 murder of William Underwood. He will now be in custody with the U.S. Marshal's Office. Blackcloud will remain on bond. A hearing is scheduled next week to discuss possible changes to her bond conditions. Prosecutors are arguing Blackcloud should have an ankle monitor as she awaits sentencing in September.

Mayor Mobolade released the following statement regarding the verdict:

During closing arguments Friday, prosecutors told jurors they needed to answer two questions: was the crime a conspiracy, and was it a threat? Prosecutors said Blackcloud and Benard "lived out a dark fantasy" as they felt by staging this video and sending it out to the public, it was helping Mobolade instead of threatening him.

Prosecutors pointed to the evidence showing both Blackcloud's and Bernard's vehicles were near the crime scene. Surveillance video from nearby businesses also showed Blackcloud in the area, going to a nearby 7-Eleven and walking across a parking lot near the campaign sign. A traffic camera showed video of flames near the campaign sign.

The defense argued it was not a threat to Mobolade, Blackcloud's attorney said, "I think he knew about it" and said it was not a "true threat" because Mobolade did not call the police immediately after learning about the video.

Throughout the five-day-long trial, jurors heard testimony from Mayor Mobolade and his wife, Abbey, numerous FBI forensic examiners who looked at evidence in the case, as well as West, the third defendant in the case, the FBI special agent, Ethan Doherty who investigated the case, and Bernard himself.

RELATED:

Mayor Mobolade testimony continues in 'hate crime hoax trial'

Suspect who took plea deal testifies in hate crime hoax trial

FBI agent, defendant testify in election hate crime hoax trial

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Both the prosecution and the defense rested their case Thursday in the trial for Ashley Blackcloud and Derrick Bernard Jr.. The pair are facing charges related to what investigators called a hate crime hoax leading up to the Colorado Springs 2023 Mayoral Runoff Election.

Thursdays trial included testimony from the primary FBI Special Agent who investigated the case, Ethan Doherty. Derrick Bernard also decided to take the stand in his own defense.

Blackclouds lawyer had initially submitted seven witnesses to testify, including Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez. During Thursdays trial, Britta Cobb, Blackclouds attorney ,did not call any of those witnesses. When asked, she said they rested the case.

Prosecutors argue Bernard and Blackcloud were a part of a conspiracy to stage a hate crime at one of then-candidate Yemi Mobolades campaign signs in April 2023, before the runoff election in May. Investigators say a racial slur was spray painted on the sign and a wooden cross was set up in front of it and set on fire. A video of the burning cross was later sent to local media outlets and public officials.

Dohertys testimony also shed light on some of Mayor Yemi Mobolades conversations with investigators leading up to the indictment of Blackcloud, Bernard, and Deanna West, who pleaded guilty in March.

Doherty said Mobolade was interviewed as possibly being involved in the hoax after an interview in January 2024. The FBI agent said investigators did not have a good understanding of Mobolade and Bernards relationship.

In interviews with the FBI, Doherty said Mobolade appeared nervous and emotional when recounting the events of the incident. Doherty said Mobolade said he was 120% sure he did not have a phone call with Bernard, even though the FBI had records showing he did.

Doherty later said investigators discovered Mobolade received a significant volume of calls and messages during that time he was campaigning for Mayor. The FBI agent later testified that they did not reach a conclusion on whether or not the Mayor intentionally deceived them.

Blackcloud decided not to testify to jurors. Bernard did take the stand and answered numerous questions.

Bernard said he initially didnt take Mobolade seriously as a candidate but State Representative Regina English introduced him to him and said when she co-signed him thats when he took him serious.

Bernard mispronounced Mobolades last name numerous times in his testimony but said they were close and claimed that during a phone call they had after the April 2023 incident Mobolade guaranteed he would not be prosecuted.

Bernard made many claims about people working for English being involved in the incident. He also told jurors that he was advised that he shouldnt testify in the case. He also claimed, West, who pleaded guilty was terrorized for taking a deal.

During his cross examination, Bernard claimed that he only found out about the cross burning incident after it happened. In his testimony with his attorney he said the incident was a strategic move to ensure he [Mobolade] got elected.

Throughout the cross examination, Bernard got defensive at one point asking the prosecutor Why are you acting silly and dull right now? and later asked have you done your research, do you know who I am?.

At one point, Bernard said he did not want to talk to the prosecutor anymore. The judge reminded him that since he decided to testify, he needed to answer the prosecutors questions.

Bernard is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole in a case where he ordered the murder of William Underwood, a local rapper.

Prosecutors were only allowed to bring up that he was convicted of a felony and is serving a sentence of more than 10 years currently.

Closing arguments are expected to take place Friday morning and then the case will be in the hands of the jury.

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The third suspect, who pleaded guilty to a charge related to an incident investigators called a hate crime hoax leading up to the Colorado Springs 2023 Mayoral runoff election, testified to jurors during a trial for the other two suspects Wednesday morning.

Deanna West pleaded guilty in March to one count of maliciously conveying false information about a threat by means of fire. West was one of three indicted in the investigation; the other two, Ashley Blackcloud and Derrick Bernard Jr. are on trial this week for their involvement.

West is expected to receive probation in exchange for her plea. During Wednesdays trial, she admitted to lying to FBI investigators, prior to taking the plea deal, by placing the blame on someone else who had funded Bernards business and worked for him.

West told jurors she was working for Bernards radio station Family Flavors the Slide in 2023, she was also living in the building the station operated in. West said her involvement in the hoax included providing a lighter for Blackcloud to light a wooden cross on fire in front of one of now-Mayor Yemi Mobolades campaign signs.

West said she took the video of the cross on fire, the sign had been defaced with a racial slur using red spray paint. She said she also sent an email using a fake name Angelica Martinez with attachments of the video and a photo of the burning cross to local media outlets and public officials.

Throughout West testimony she said she feared Bernard would retaliate by putting her on the streets if she did not do what he asked.

I really didnt have a choice, West told jurors Wednesday, anything he wanted done, could result in a threat.

West said her phone did not have service, it only worked while connected to Wi-Fi and was instructed by Bernard to not use the Wi-Fi at the radio station to send the email. She and Blackcloud drove to a WalMart to use its public Wi-Fi to send the email. She believed she was asked to use her phone to record the video because it would be less traceable since it was not connected to a service.

Through testimony in court Thursday, it appeared Blackcloud and Bernard did not have their phones with them or on while the incident happened.

West was asked about Bernards relationship with Mobolade, she said their relationship was just business during the campaign and believed Mobolade distanced himself from Bernard after the incident.

Attorneys showed West surveillance video from the medical campus at Union Blvd. And Fillmore Street in Colorado Springs. It was outside of that campus where investigators say the crime happened.

Data from Wests Google history also showed that she had researched things like how to complain about hate crimes.

Defense attorneys focused on the previous statements West had made to the FBI; she admitted during their questioning she felt pressured by law enforcement and agreed that they were persistent in getting information from her.

West also previously worked with law enforcement officers as a fingerprint analyst in Texas. She said Bernard was suspicious that she could be a spy for law enforcement.

Jurors also heard from a former field photographer who was based at the FBI Denver office, an FBI investigator who works with the Cellular Analysis Service Team, and the FBI Special Agent from Colorado Springs, Ethan Doherty, who investigated the case.

The Special Agent was questioned about footage obtained by surveillance cameras on the medical campus, as well as a traffic camera at the intersection, and messages taken from search warrants from Blackcloud and Bernards phones.

Dohertys testimony is expected to resume Thursday morning, and the prosecution is expected to rest its case.

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Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade told jurors Tuesday he could not recall the exact details of a phone call between himself and one of the suspects in a hate crime hoax investigators say happened leading up to the 2023 Colorado Springs Mayoral runoff election.

Both the prosecution and the defense asked Mobolade about what he and Derrick Bernard, one of two suspects in the case on trial, spoke about in the days after the initial incident.

Investigators say Bernard and Ashley Blackcloud worked with Deanna West, who pleaded guilty in the case earlier this year, to stage a hate crime leading up to the mayoral runoff election in 2023. Investigators say the trio placed a burning cross in front of one of Mobolades campaign signs with a racial slur spray painted on the sign and recorded a video of the burning cross.

The video was shared with media outlets and public officials.

The mayor continued his testimony for jurors Tuesday morning speaking about the impact the incident had on himself and his family during the course of his campaign. A key focus of Tuesdays testimony dealt with Mobolades interactions with Bernard over social media, text, and a phone call phone records showed happened three days after the video was shared.

I dont remember the details, it may have been the incident, it may have been the campaign, Mobolade said in relation to what he spoke about with Bernard during that six-minute phone call.

Mobolade said when he learned of the incident he was not hoping for the media to pick it up. Mobolade said he worried about protests and riots in Colorado Springs. At one point during his testimony, he said he told Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez I dont want to make a big deal about of this

Communication between Mobolade and Bernard was shown to jurors, some of which had previously been shown or mentioned in an indictment of the trio, including a message sent to Mobolade that said

Mobolade said he did not know what Bernard meant by that message and said communication with Bernard is sometimes hard to understand.

Defense attorneys also brought up Mobolades conversations with the FBI during the course of this investigation.

The defense said during one of three interviews in 2024, Mobolade said he was 120% sure he did not have a phone call with Bernard. Defense attorneys showed Mobolade a transcription of that FBI report.

Defense attorneys also focused on a letter Mobolade received from the U.S. Attorneys Office that said Mobolades conduct was within the scope of this duly authorized investigation and that [the] letter should not be interpreted as exoneration for a clean bill of health.

Mobolade said he had several letters that identified him as a victim in the case, and he did not interpret the letter as he had been investigated for his participation in a crime.

Mobolades wife, Abbey also took the witness stand Tuesday and recounted the days after the incident saying he was distraught and in distress. Abbey Mobolade was tearful as she said she was scared for her family and called the image disturbing.

Both the mayor and his wife said they made various security adjustments after the incident and did not allow their kids to play outside for fear of their safety.

Multiple others testified Tuesday during the trial, including a CSPD intelligence detective who executed a search warrant at Blackclouds home. She detailed clothes she took from the home as well as spray paint, wood, and lighter fluid.

An investigator with Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also walked through his investigation of extracting data from phones, including a Facebook message sent by Bernard to Mobolade. Another CBI investigator spoke to his involvement in surveillance of Bernard during the investigation.

Jurors also heard from FBI experts who are forensic examiners for paint, fire, and DNA analysis.

The DNA analysis expert said there were DNA samples that matched Deanna West on some of the wood from the scene sent to the lab and Blackclouds DNA was present on a can of spray paint.

The trial will continue Wednesday morning, where West is expected to testify.

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Colorado Springs Utilities has been installing fiber lines throughout the city, and people in the Wolf Ranch neighborhood say the spray paint left behind from that project months ago wont go away.

It is so embarrassing, it just doesnt look like you take care of your things, Adria Lopour, a homeowner in the neighborhood said.

Lopour said Utilities made the marks on the sidewalk and rocks near her home in October and was told it would go away in about three to six months. Its now been seven months. Lopour said even with a professional power washer, the paint remains.

The problem is, is we spent a lot of money on our landscaping. We take pride in our neighborhood in Colorado Springs. This is not a Wolf Ranch issue. It's a Colorado Springs issue, Lopour said.

Colorado Springs Utilities pointed out, the markings are in public right of way or utility easements near homes.

So essentially, Colorado Springs Utilities has created legalized vandalism, Lopour said.

Other neighbors have had better luck with pressure washing and using other cleaning solutions to get the paint removed.

Colorado Springs Utilities sent News5 a statement in response to our request about the concerns neighbors brought to News5.

The full statement is below.

When pressed about whether or not the paint used was water soluble, Utilities said there are various types of locate paints used in the industry. It later said it requires contractors to use marking paint which can vary in chemical compounds and that the paint needs to be able to withstand the elements to prevent the need for repeating locating efforts.

Lopour is hoping to see some change happen as the paint remains outside her home.

We care about our city, we want to keep it beautiful, you should too, Lopour said.

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Helping the city's homeless population has been a priority in Colorado Springs for years, and local organizations and providers often step in to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.

One of those needs includes sober living programs, or programs where people experiencing homelessness and needing help with substance abuse treatment can get into a program with a voucher to get the care they need.

Come July 1st, a change is happening as to how funds for programs like sober living vouchers get distributed and it's causing some uncertainty on how much money will be allocated and where.

"The question mark on the table is whether or not the funds will be cut from the federal government and therefore impact communities," Katie Blickenderfer, Chief Clinical Officer at Diversus Health in Colorado Springs said, "it definitely weighs on providers in this community to figure out how we're going to continue to do what we do."

The concerns are two-fold: uncertainty with federal funds and an administrative change happening at the beginning of the state's fiscal year in July.

Diversus Health is currently a provider of services in Colorado Springs and a Managed Service Organization (MSO) for the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA). MSO serve as the intermediary to allocate funding from the state and federal government to providers for programs like sober living and other substance abuse programs. Come July 1st, it's no longer going to be the MSO for the region, it's being transitioned to Signal Behavioral Health Network.

The state is moving to a different regional model as part of the directives the Behavioral Health Task Force made years ago. The model is aimed to help "safety net" providers, those who help people who are underinsured or not insured at all.

"The intent is for it to be seamless with providers that, instead of [the providers] re-contracting with us, their contracts will be with Signal Behavioral Health. The challenge is whether or not the funding will exist like it has been." Blickenderfer said.

When it comes to whether or not services will be going away, Blickenderfer said they don't know at this time.

"I feel way more confident about the transition of the services or the, oversight of the services going from Diversus health to Signal than I do about the funding being available like it has been," Blickenderfer said.

Signal Behavioral Health Network CEO Daniel Darting said it intends to keep allocating funds to most if not all of the organizations in the Pikes Peak region offering crisis services, substance use disorder treatment, and recovery and mental health services. Contracts are not all finalized for the programs Signal will be allocating funding to.

"I think the budget challenges are not going to go away anytime soon, so I suppose, yes, it's correct to say that there is risk," Darting said.

As of now, there are not active cuts happening at the federal level for these programs, Darting said. Federal dollars are running out from covid-era relief programs like the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

"So there's an indirect relationship, but it's not an arbitrary reduction of funding or a decision-based reduction of funding or changes of that kind that we're aware of," Darting said.

The BHA said there more details will be released in the coming weeks on what the transition looks like for the general public. The plan is to make a streamlined process where patients can easily get connected to the services needed in their communities.

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A Colorado Springs man will no longer be on the hook for a nearly $65,000 medical bill after a surgery to try to combat his cancer last summer.

Dennis Hiser and his wife reached out to News5 Investigates for help after he received a letter saying his insurance, Cigna, owed $64,096.31 for a partial bladder removal surgery Hiser had in July 2024.

The letter from CommonSpirit also said that if Cigna did not make the payment, the hospital would bill Hiser for the charges.

Hiser is living with stage 4 bladder cancer that has spread to his bones.

I mean, you know, the pain is every single day, it never really goes away, Hiser said, you're not just dealing with the disease itself, you're dealing with all the things it does around you, to the people you love. They're going through it with you.

Adding to his confusion, Hiser had previously received an Explanation of Benefits from Cigna showing he owed $0.00, but Cigna showed it only paid about $10,000 of the $70,000 total cost.

The letter from CommonSpirit frightened Hiser as he battled his terminal diagnosis; he was worried this debt would end up in his wifes hands if he passed.

When that day comes, I don't know when it will come, but, um, it's scary to have that lingering for us," Hiser said.

The day before his surgery last summer, Hiser said he received a call from CommonSpirit telling him he was out of network. That call confused Hiser so he reached out to Cigna.

He looked it up and says, no, no, you're in network absolutely, youre in-network, talk about comforting, Hiser said.

To add to his comfort, Hiser said he was placed on a three-way call with the hospital, assuring him he was in-network. Hiser moved forward with the surgery, he said that without that assurance, he likely wouldve rescheduled.

Even though it would have caused a lot of complications and possibly some severe complications, I would have done that because it means that much that I don't leave the people I love in debt and I don't have everything we worked for here jeopardized, Hiser said.

News5Investigates reached out to both CommonSpirit. In a statement, CommonSpirit said this was an error on Cignas end by incorrectly telling Hiser they were in-network. The statement also goes on to say if Cigna does not pay the outstanding balance, they will honor the in-network status for Hiser.

Full CommonSpirit Statement

News5 Investigates did not get a statement from Cigna by our deadline. Cigna asked for additional documentation from News5 Investigates and for Hiser to sign a waiver to release information; he sent that form.

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Mary Abiera-Lumbres was on her way to another school day for her senior year at Widefield High School when a driver in a white truck struck her Toyota Prius, killing her.

It would mark the beginning of a long story her family would spend years trying to find a resolution to.

The driver of the truck, who was uninjured in the crash, was Hunter Minalga, an airman stationed at Peterson Space Force Base. Records show Minalga was speeding more than 20 miles over the 55 mph speed limit on Marksheffel Road at the time of the crash.

The crash that took Abiera-Lumbres' life was on November 3, 2021. By January, 2023 Minalga pleaded guilty to careless driving resulting in death, a misdemeanor.

His plea agreement included a five-year deferred sentence, meaning if he followed the requirements for the next five years, he would avoid jail time, and the case would be expunged from his record.

She was the nicest person you'd ever meet, and I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter, said Manny Abiera-Lumbres, Marys father.

A military family themselves, Abiera-Lumbres moved around growing up, and her parents said she knew how to make people feel welcome.

Mary was very good at seeing people and helping people to feel seen and heard and valued, said Catherine Abiera-Lumbres.

At 18 years old, she had already applied to colleges in the hopes of becoming a pharmacist when the crash that took her life ended those dreams. Marys acceptance letters would arrive after her death, giving her parents constant reminders of the tragedy that changed their lives forever.

So it was hard, said Catherine Abiera-Lumbres. We would get emails saying like, apply for your dorm!, apply for your scholarship!

The conditions of Minalgas deferred sentence included letters of apology to family members and 300 hours of community service, with hours completed with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) Major Crash Team in the first year.

The Abiera-Lumbres family said they wanted to see the case go to trial, but, it did not. A year after Minalgas guilty plea, Catherine Abiera-Lumbres wanted to learn what Minalga had completed as part of his deferred sentence.

She had yet to receive a letter in the mail and she would later learn Minalga had not performed a single hour of community service with CSPD as required in his sentencing.

"Like, for a whole year. Imagine, you kill someone, and for a whole year, you do nothing. Nothing to make it right. It's like, did you even care?" said Lumbres.

Minalga would later find himself back in an El Paso County courtroom in May 2024, about five months after the one-year mark of his sentencing.

His probation officer said Minalga had difficulty scheduling with CSPD because of his work schedule. Minalga claimed he thought he had five years to complete any community service.

Prosecutors pointed out Minalga had only contacted CSPD once between January 2023 and January 2024. In that May 2024 hearing, the judge ordered Minalga to complete 60 hours of community service with CSPD before an August hearing.

When he returned to court that August, it was revealed he completed those hours from June 20 to August 17. A CSPD detective testified saying Minalga had only contacted CSPD once in March of 2023. After CSPD responded, Minalga didnt follow up.

In an August 22, 2024 hearing, the judge ended up sentencing Minalga to one year in jail, the maximum sentence careless driving resulting in death carries in Colorado.

I think we rode like a little wave, like a little high, said Catherine Abiera-Lumbres. When we found [he was going to jail], I was like Im relieved, like I got justice for my daughter.

The Abiera-Lumbres family wanted to know what would happen to Minalgas military service.

They would come to learn Minalga would separate from the military while in jail, but he would not be dishonorably discharged because the case was handled in civilian court, not a military court-martial.

We felt betrayed, said Catherine Abiera-Lumbres.

There are several characterizations of military discharge beyond honorable and dishonorable. If the case is not handled in a military court, the discharge status of the service member is considered private information under the Privacy Act.

Ryan Coward, a military law expert in Colorado Springs, said its not typical for a service member to be convicted of a crime and receive an honorable discharge.

The service members commander will always have the choice when theres a civilian conviction on whether or not they want to pursue discharging the member, said Coward.

When a military member is involved in a crime, it can be prosecuted in civilian court, military court, or both.

Oftentimes, the military, for offenses that are committed out here in the Colorado community, will defer to the civilians, but they still can prosecute the person if they want to," said Coward.

Coward said military members serving more than six years are entitled to additional due process before being discharged.

Essentially, they get an administrative trial, usually with three members, senior members of the military, they will look at the misconduct and say, 'does it justify separating the service member from the military?' said Coward. So, they don't go to a court martial, but they go to this other kind of board to make this determination.

That's the explanation I want is like, why? Why was this person kept in the military? said Lumbres.

News5 began requesting Minalgas military personnel records in September. After months of not getting answers, Peterson Space Force Base said the request needed to be made through the Air Force Personnel Center.

In a statement sent to News5 from Peterson Space Force Base, a spokesperson said the following:

An additional Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was sent to the Air Force Personnel Center. That request was later labeled as closed as the Air Force said it was a duplicate request. The FOIA request in September is still labeled as In Progress.

News5 also reached out to Minalga by sending him a letter to the El Paso County Jail. Attempts to reach him through his wife were unsuccessful.

The Abiera-Lumbres family wants answers with how Minalgas case was handled and if his discharge will be classified as honorable.

With communication from Peterson saying he would not be dishonorably discharged, it left them believing his discharge status was characterized as honorable.

Catherine Abiera-Lumbres hopes that sharing whats happened since her daughters death could spark change, what I would like to see, hopefully, is that... they change their policy so that another parent, another family, does not have to sit where we're sitting right now and feel this betrayal."

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Jensen Hughes, the engineering firm Colorado Springs School District 11 hired for its structural analysis on Jenkins Middle School, asked local and state fire officials on Monday for an extension to shut down the building.

In a letter obtained by News5 Investigates, the firm said it would have preliminary findings by Friday, the day the district was ordered by the state to close the building. You can read the letter below or by clicking here:

The firm asked both the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control and the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) to delay the closure of the building by one week to January 24.

News5 reached out to District 11's spokesperson, who did confirm this directive came from the district. We're working to get more answers from the district and will bring you those as they come in.

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Inspection reports from the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) offer more insight into the structural issues and fire safety violations at Jenkins Middle School over the past few years.

You can read the reports for yourself below or by clicking here:

Nearly two years ago, Jenkins Middle School had a re-inspection done for an annual report in March 2023.

Documents obtained by News5 show there were fire safety violations, which the school later remedied.

About a year later, in April 2024, a follow-up inspection showed failures including ceiling tiles needing to be replaced, and doors not closing properly. The report also shows school leaders remedied those violations

The December 2024 inspection included fire safety issues as well as a "special note" which said "the building's foundation is problematic and there is evidence of this throughout the building."

Springs Fire later detailed the issues in a letter addressed to district officials.

The next day, fire investigators joined state investigators to take a look at the structural issues. A report dated December 20th, shows numerous structural concerns in the Jenkins Middle School building.

The report also said a District 11 employee had reported a fallen brick in the school's 8th grade wing more than 10 years ago, in 2013.

In January, investigators with the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) and Division of Fire Prevention and Control did a walk-through and issued a "Notice of Unsafe Condition." State investigators told the district it needed to have the building evacuated by January 17th unless a structural analysis showed the building was safe.

As News5 has reported, Colorado Springs School District 11 announced this week the school will be closing as of Friday. Students at Jenkins Middle School will be moved to nearby schools: 6th graders to Russell Middle School, 7th and 8th graders to Doherty High School starting Thursday of next week. School will be closed for students at those schools Tuesday and Wednesday (Monday is a holiday) to accommodate the necessary moves.

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The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) notified Colorado Springs School District 11 of structural concerns at Jenkins Middle School just before the holidays in December.

District officials sent a letter to parents Tuesday informing them that the schools building will be closing at the end of the week and students will be moved to other schools in the district.

In a letter obtained through an open records request by News5Investigates, CSFD told the district it had 30 days or as quickly as practical, with the Fire Marshals approval to hire one of three engineering firms to perform a structural analysis.

CSFD said the goals of this analysis should be to evaluate the structural components of the building to determine any immediate life safety concerns, a fire protection analysis, and the impact on building utilities.

The letter also included several photos detailing the damage at Jenkins Middle School. The damage included cracked walls and separations of walls and floors.

You can read the full letter CSFD sent to Colorado Springs School District 11 by clicking here or by reading below:

This is terrible, Bob Pollack said, the owner of Black Rock Inspections, a company based in Lakewood. Pollack has 50 years of experience in construction, welding, and more than three decades inspecting buildings, to quote [the document provided by News5] this is very unsafe.

This is very obvious that the foundation is moving, Pollack said in reference to a photo in the report.

The first thing you do before you build a building is you dig a hole, Pollack said and after taking dirt out, you put it back and you compact it with a certain amount of moisture water in it, which the water makes it like, lubricates all the sand particles and then you have to compact it.

Pollack said after that process, typically construction workers build a foundation on top of that called subgrade.

If your subgrade is not right, step one your foundation is not going to work and thats what happens here, Pollack said.

According to Pollack, repairs for the problems could take months.

You have a problem, now you have to start. You have to findwhere does this end? How far does this go? How far apart are these? Is this all in one hall, or [fire investigators] said its over in one corner of the building? So, youve got to keep investigating till you get to an end, to a spot, Pollack said.

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UPDATE

As of Tuesday, the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control says Jenkins Middle School will close by Friday due to structural damage. Click here for the latest coverage.

ORIGINAL COVERAGE

State investigators say the structural conditions of the Jenkins Middle School building in Colorado Springs School District 11 are unsafe, and the building needs to be evacuated by the end of the week, unless a structural analysis shows otherwise.

Colorado Springs School District 11 told News5 it does not have a timeline for a closure. The district said it is working to determine which parts of the building are safe.

obtained a letter from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control sent to Michael Willis, Senior Director of Facilities for Colorado Springs School District 11. The letter said the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) notified the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department in December about structural concerns at the school.

The letter said unless the district provides a structural analysis showing the building is safe, the school needs to be evacuated by Friday, January 17, 2025 to "make repairs and remediate these unsafe conditions".

The letter cites PPRBD's notice of unsafe condition that details structural issues like cracks in the wall and parts of the building experiencing significant settlement.

PPRBD released the following Notice of Unsafe Condition to the Division of Fire Prevention and Control:

Colorado Springs School District 11 sent the following statement to the Jenkins Middle School community:

The middle school is located near the intersection of Austin Bluffs Parkway and Dublin Boulevard:

This is a developing story.

This is a developing story. News5 will continue to update this web story as we learn more.

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A non-profit that lost its tax-exempt status in 2020 represented itself as tax-exempt in its request for 2025 funding to the City of Pueblo. News5Investigates obtained the application submitted by La Gente Youth Sports (LGYS) through a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request.

At the end of 2024, News5Investigates uncovered the non-profit had its tax-exempt status revoked by the IRS years ago. As the city looked to make cuts to non-profits in its 2025 budgets, La Gente Youth Sports saw a slight reduction of $2,000 in its funding. Other organizations completely lost funding in the 2025 budget.

In August of 2025, Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham hired a non-profit compliance coordinator to vet the organizations the city would be giving money to.

The organiztion did not file its Form 990s, which are tax forms non-profits submit to the IRS annually. If an organization does not submit the form for three consecutive years, it can have its tax-exempt status revoked.

In an interview last month with Melissa Cook, the non-profit compliance coordinator, she was unaware of the non-profit losing its status. When asked about whether or not she was aware of La Gente Youth Sports losing its status she said "not every organization on the list is a non-profit" but those that were required to do them, she looked at.

When News5Investigates pointed out all non-profits are supposed to have Form 990s filed, Cook said "we don't make the determination of, you know, the the legal IRS determination of who needs to submit a 990."

The Mayor said 990s were not required as part of the application, only that organizations were required to submit a certificate of good standing by the Colorado Secretary of State.

In a second interview last month, News5Investigates showed Mayor Graham a city council meeting where Cook said she looked to see if 990s were filed. The Mayor said that was only the case if the organization submitted them.

"I wouldnt say they [the requirements] were different for everybody, we sent out one application that they had to respond to. If they had the information that they could provide back to the city, they did," Graham said.

LGYS' application was left blank where there was a place to upload a Form 990. It did say it planned to use the funding it received from the city for program supplies, equipment, and general operating costs like liability insurance and accounting services. Budget documents for LGYS showed it spent $5,000 on accounting services in 2024, it did not specify a firm who it paid for the services.

After recieving LGYS application, News5Investigates asked for additional clarification from the city and asked for another interview with the non-profit compliance coordintor.

Haley Sue Robinson, the city's Director of Public Affairs denied that request saying in part "weve provided the information youve requested in an accommodating and transparent manner, answered your questions multiple times and will not be providing another interview.

News5Investigates also reached out to Zachary Valdez, the Executive Director of La Gente Youth Sports, Valdez did not return our call.

RELATED: Amid Non-profit cuts, Pueblo funds non-profit that lost its tax-exempt status

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A Colorado Springs mans body was found inside a Tesla Cybertruck that had an explosion outside of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas Wednesday morning.

Investigators say Matthew Livelsberger is the man found inside the truck but also say they are awaiting a DNA confirmation. Livelsbergers identification cards and credit cards were found inside the vehicle.

Law enforcement officials say they believe Livelsberger shot himself just before an explosion occurred inside the Cybertruck.

Livelsberger was a decorated Army veteran, most recently assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group in Stuttgart Germany.

Law enforcement say he was on approved leave from the military while he was in the United States.

Livelsberger was previously married but divorced in 2018. County records show in 2022, he remarried to another woman who is also listed as the property owner at the home FBI agents were investigating in Colorado Springs. Neighbors said he had a baby at home as well.

Livelsbergers military career dates back to 2006, the U.S. Army said he served active duty until 2011 before joining the national guard and later the reserve.

The 37-year-old entered Active Duty in December of 2012 as a U.S. Army Special Operations Soldier.

At a news conference Thursday morning, law enforcement officials in Las Vegas said Livelsberger shot himself before the explosion happened inside the Tesla cybertruck.

Investigators also pointed out some similarities shared between Livelsberger and the suspect in the New Orleans attack. Law enforcement said they have not ruled out a possible connection.

Both Livelsberger and Shamsud-Din Jabbar served in the U.S. Army in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Law enforcement said there is no record they served in the same unit or at the same time.

Livelsberger and Jabbar also were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, but law enforcement officials also said there is no evidence they were stationed in the same area or unit during their deployments.

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In early 2019, Florissant ministry leaders Torin and Rena Smith were set to appear before a judge when neither one of them showed up at the courthouse.

Rena Smith had been convicted months earlier of witness tampering over a child sex crimes investigation involving her husband, Torin.

Torin Smith was expected to go to trial in 2019, but more than five years later federal investigators with the U.S. Marshals Office say he and his wife Rena are still on the run.

Its a case thats frustrated Sandi Polgar, who attended church with the Smiths, from the beginning.

My position, I wasn't one of the victims, I wasn't a parent or relative of one of the victims, but I had been in that church, then I heard somebody spilling their guts and giving me all kinds of information on it. So that's how I got involved," Polgar said.

Polgar attended several court appearances when the pair was facing their charges. Years later, she said shes still concerned about the victims if the Smiths dont make it back to Colorado.

The couple attended a church in Lake George and helped run Praise Mountain Ministries in Florissant.

Well theyre out there somewhere, Polgar said, you know, they [the victims] may never have justice, I dont know.

The U.S. Marshals Office said this case is active and ongoing, even years later the case is not considered cold.

About a year ago, Polgar came across something in the local paper, the Pikes Peak Courier. It was an ad asking for a special conservator to come forward in regards to Torin Smiths property.

Polgar said there was a rumor Torin Smith had died of COVID-19 in 2022. The U.S. Marshals Service said they believe both Torin and Rena are still alive.

The U.S. Marshals Office says tips can help them out in an investigation like this, if you believe you have information on where they might be contact investigators at 1-877-WANTED2 or by visiting usmarshals.gov and click submit a tip.

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The city of Pueblo cut its funding to non-profits for the 2025 budget, but one organization still getting funding had its tax-exempt status revoked from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2020.

La Gente Youth Sports is an organization with a decades long history in the city of Pueblo. It touts itself as an organization providing sport opportunities to low and moderate income families.

The organization dates back to 1976, in 2020 the IRS revoked its status after not filing form 990s for three consecutive years. Records show that the city has consistently provided the organization with funding since 2018.

La Gente Youth Sports has received more than $130,000 from the city since 2018, with $18,000 budgeted for 2025.

Earlier in 2024, Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham created a position for the city, the Non-Profit Compliance Coordinator.

In August, Melissa Cook began the new position with the city of Pueblo. In September, she presented to city council a new process for non-profits to apply for funding from the city. Cook also looked at other non-departmental requests which she called quasi-governmental organizations.

Cook said previously the process for non-profits to apply for funding was a simple and non-transparent process.

Any nonprofit that wanted to essentially become a line item in the city's budget, would send a letter to the mayor requesting these funds, Cook said.

The new process for the 2025 budget included an application where non-profits submitted documentation including financial documents, budgets, and a recent audit.

Cook said in a City Council work session in September that the review process included seeing if non-profits filed Form 990s, the form submitted to the IRS for tax-exempt organizations.

In an interview with News5Investigates Cook said not every organization submitted 990s.

When News5Investigates asked if Cook was aware that La Gente Youth Sports had its tax-exempt status revoked in 2020, she said she was not. It raised more questions about the citys process for vetting and determining which non-profits would not receive funding.

We went and made sure that they were all in good standing with the Secretary of State, Cook said, and so if that happened, then that documentation had not been filed by the point that we had had reviewed this.

According to the IRS website, La Gente Youth Sports had the tax-exempt status automatically revoked in May of 2020. The status was publicly posted in August 2020.

Cook said not every organization on the list that received funding is a non-profit, when News5Investigates asked about La Gente Youth Sports being considered a non-profit she said I cant answer that question at this exact time.

Of the 22 organizations listed in the citys budget under non-departmental contributions and donations all but two have registered with the IRS as a tax-exempt organization.

The two organizations that have not are government entities. Abatement Assistance which Pueblos Mayor Heather Graham said is under code enforcement and Non-profit payments to the county.

Cook mentioned all organizations had to be in good standing with the Secretary of States Office.

The Colorado Secretary of State requires businesses to register every year to be considered in good standing.

So when you're looking at the Colorado Secretary of State filing and it says that they're in good standing, it's because they filed their annual registrations with the Secretary of State and are in good standing with the state, just in terms of like the business status, with the state completely separate than the federal, Doreen Merz, a tax partner with Stockman Kast Ryan and Company in Colorado Springs who specializes in non-profits.

According to the Secretary of States website Good Standing status means that statutory filing requirements have been met with our office. However, this office does not review or verify information submitted in those filings. This office also does not regulate or investigate business practices or operations.

Non-profit organizations register as businesses labeled non-profit corporations with the Secretary of States office. However, in order to be able to solicit money for donations, an organization also has to register as a charitable organization with the Secretary of State. Its a separate kind of registration.

In order to complete the charitable organization registration, Merz said an organization must have its Form 990s. The Secretary of State lists La Gente Youth Sports status as a charity as Expired as of August 2020.

As a business, La Gente Youth Sports is in good standing, but as a charity in Colorado it is not.

Merz said without a charitable organization registration, a group cannot be soliciting for donations.

[If] I'm going to do a fundraising dinner and I'm going to go out and I'm going to say we are this awesome, not for profit, please, you know, provide charitable donations to us that's not allowed, Merz said.

News5Investigates reached out La Gente Youth Sports Executive Director, Zachary Valdez by phone and email.

The following day after an initial interview request, Valdez said he had been on the phone with the IRS and learned its tax-exempt status had been revoked for filing late 990s.

Speaking over the phone with News5Investigates, Valdez said he had the 990s and would send them to News5 asked for Valdez to send them by Friday at noon, prior to this story airing on Sunday. The forms were never sent.

Valdez also said he was unaware his organizations charitable organization status was expired.

When News5Investigates asked for an on-camera interview, Valdez said he would have to check with his board.

During an interview with Cook, the citys Director of Public Affairs Haley Sue Robinson said the recommendations made to City Council on which organizations to cut funding to were made by the Mayor.

News5Investigates then sat down with Mayor Graham.

Graham said she was unaware of La Gente Youth Sports tax-exempt status being revoked and said the city didnt specifically ask for form 990s.

News5Investigates showed Graham a printed off paper from the IRS website showing the status had been revoked.

When asked about it, Graham said without an address for La Gente Youth Sports on the physical document given to her she would need to look into it.

This might be something that you looked into, but that's not specifically something that we required from the city, Graham said.

Graham did gather a binder of the 29 applications submitted to the city, some non-profit organizations did submit Form 990s, La Gente Youth Sports did not.

News5Investigates asked for a copy of the applications. The City of Pueblo said it would take 67 hours to go through the 4,000 pages of documents for redaction and cost more than $2,000. When News5Investigates requested just the Form 990s submitted, only ten organizations were included.

News5 did get ahold of an example of an application an organization had to submit, it included a question asking if the organization was tax-exempt. News5Investigates is working to learn if La Gente Youth Sports said it was a tax-exempt organization in its application.

Graham said she needed a day or two to look into La Gente Youth Sports tax-exempt status.

When News5Investigates interviewed her days later she said what we found was correct but reiterated that it was not required for organizations to submit this form.

Were not the FBI, you know essentially we fund non-profits and non-departmentals who provide services to the city. You are correct in what youre saying that they are not complaint with the IRS but then the IRS gives a disclaimer about why somebody is not compliant, Graham said.

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During a Thursday morning news conference, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade did not elaborate on his interaction with a suspect now accused of staging a hate crime hoax during the 2023 Mayoral runoff election.

Earlier this month, Mobolade shared a statement on Facebook Live, responding to allegations and erroneous reports surrounding the investigation.

Last month, a report published by The Daily Wire, a conservative-leaning publication that cited an anonymous "FBI official" claimed the Mayor avoided charges in the investigation for racial and political reasons. News5Investigates has not been able to independently verify the claims in the article.

His statement in early December came after he received criticism over his silence on the allegations from Colorado Springs City Councilman Dave Donelson, County Commissioner Longinos Gonzales, and 23rd Judicial District Attorney-Elect George Brauchler.

In his statement made on Facebook Live, Mobolade said directly "I did not lie to the FBI" and said he was cooperating with the investigation. Mobolade also publically shared a letter from the Department of Justice naming him a victim.

The indictment for the case said Mobolade, who at the time was a candidate and is only referred to as "Candidate 1", communicated with one of the three suspects, Derrick Bernard Jr. over text and had a 5-minute long phone call with him.

During Thursday's news conference, Mobolade repeatedly said the case is an active investigation and he would not comment further.

News5investigates asked the mayor if he would consider releasing additional communication he had with Bernard or provide insight into the phone conversation he had with him.

"I believe you have access to the same information, the FBI truly has access to that information, the FBI has released and submitted the case to the U.S. Attorney and all that information is public," Mobolade said.

The indictment does not show any of the text messages sent by Mobolade only messages sent to him by Bernard. The mayor also maintains his only communication with Bernard was as a local media personality.

"There are a number of us that have been Bernards studio for either town hall, some of the initiatives that he put together," Mobolade said "at the time I was not aware of his background and his story just like I engage you as media personalities and I dont know if your background or your stories."

During the briefing, Mayor Mobolade also announced his goals for Colorado Springs in 2025.

You can watch Mayor Mobolade's press briefing below:

RELATED: 'I did not lie to the FBI,' Mayor Yemi speaks out on Hate Crime Hoax allegations

Charges filed against three people over Mayoral election hate crime hoax

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Colorado first passed its "Red Flag Law" in 2019. It allows family members and household members as well as law enforcement agencies to petition a judge to have someone's guns removed from them if they are deemed a risk to themselves or others.

The bill was first introduced in 2018, but it failed in a divided legislature where Democrats controlled the House and Republicans controlled the Senate.

In 2019, numerous counties, including El Paso County, declared the counties to be "2nd Amendment Sanctuary Counties" or in El Paso County's case a "2nd Amendment Preservation County" meaning it would not enforce the Red Flag law.

After the shooting at Club Q in 2022, criticism drew over whether or not law enforcement in El Paso County did enough after a 2021 arrest involving the gunman, Anderson Lee Aldrich. Community members argued the sheriff's office should have placed Aldrich under the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) which would have banned Aldrich from possessing or obtaining any guns for 364 days.

In a news conference after the 2022 shooting, District Attorney Michael Allen said Aldrich was under a Mandatory Protection Order (MPO) while he faced charges over a 2021 incident. The case did not make it to trial after Allen said witnesses failed to cooperate. The MPO prevented Aldrich from owning any guns. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said the Aldrich requested to have his guns returned to him after the charges were dropped, the sheriff's office said it denied that request.

The state has two types of extreme risk protection orders, one of which is temporary and is used while someone is awaiting an ERPO hearing which is up to 14 days. More temporary orders had been granted statewide as of Oct. 2023 than the full extreme risk protection order.

As of October 2023, more than 530 petitions had been filed across Colorado under the state's "Red Flag Law", 70 of those petitions were filed in El Paso County, only 17 of which were ultimately granted by a judge, all were temporary orders, nine of the petitions were filed by law enforcement agencies.

In 2023, state lawmakers expanded the eligible community members to file extreme risk protection orders to include District Attorneys, Educators, and healthcare workers, including mental health professionals.

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Apex Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation centers in Colorado Springs have unexpectedly closed and patients say they were not notified.

News5Investigates received a tip that one of the buildings the center occupied had a notice posted saying it was more than $20,000 delinquent

on rent, taxes, and other costs. It said the landlord, Niadventure LLC was requiring the business to pay within three days.

The owner of Niadventure LLC is John Bissell, his name is listed as a doctor for Apex online and he was listed as the registered agent for Apex Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation up until January of 2023, according to state records.

News5Investigates reached out to Bissell who said he has not been affiliated with Apex since January of this year. He said his only involvement with Apex as of now was as a creditor, meaning Apex owes him money, he suggested News5Investigates reach out to the current owner, Heather Copeland.

News5 called Copeland, after finding out it was KOAA News5 calling, Copeland hung up the phone. News5Investigates followed up over text and did not hear back.

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. Three people from Colorado Springs are facing federal charges after investigators say they staged a hate crime hoax leading up to the 2023 Mayoral runoff election.

The video, which was shared with local media outlets including News5, depicts a wooden cross being burned with a racial slur spray painted on a campaign sign for then-candidate Yemi Mobolade.

Derrick Bernard Jr., Ashley Blackcloud, and Deanna West are facing two charges each: Conspiracy to defraud the United States and for using fire to intimidate.

In the indictment, it says the trio was affiliated with a local non-profit called Family Flavors the Slide WBN which marketed itself as

minority owned independent broadcasting and multi-media organization.

Bernard is listed as the registered agent for the group, according to documents from the Colorado Secretary of State. Our news partners at The Gazette recently covered a trial involving Bernard where he faced charges that he ordered the murder of a local rapper. Bernard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Gazette reports Bernard plans to appeal the conviction.

Mobolade is not named in the indictment, he is only referred to as Candidate 1, his opponent in the runoff, former city councilman Wayne Williams is referred to as Candidate 2

The indictment says one of the suspects, Bernard, messaged Mobolade on social media, sent him text messages, and spoke to him on the phone for five minutes.

In the message sent to Mobolade on social media the indictment says he is mobilizing his squadron. The full text of what was sent in the message is below.

The indictment does not say whether or not Mobolade responded to the message. City officials tell News5 the group was not affiliated with Mobolade's campaign.

News5 reached out to the Mayor's office for comment, they sent the following statement from the Mayor:

"That incident during my campaign led to a very traumatic time for my family, my campaign team, and our community. My knowledge and interaction with Bernard was as a local media personality, and I was not aware at the time that he was suspected of this crime. I appreciate local and federal law enforcements work in pursuing justice and sending a message that we will not tolerate such reprehensible behavior."

News5 also reached out to Wayne Williams, Mobolade's opponent in the mayor runoff election who sent the following statement:

"There were many false accusations made against me during my campaign for Colorado Springs mayor and this smear attempt was the most egregious. I applaud the efforts of the US Attorneys Office to hold the alleged perpetrators of this dangerous false flag operation accountable. This event illustrates how far some will go to spread election disinformation. Too often, such actions are used as a pretext for violence. Hopefully, this indictment will deter others and help set us on a course toward returning to civil discourse."

Note: A previous version of this story reported the indictment was not clear on whether or not Mobolade's campaign was affiliated with the group. City officials responded to News5 to say the group was not affiliated with the Mayor.

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