The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office confirmed on March 11 that it is investigating former state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, a Longmont Democrat who resigned earlier this year as a Senate ethics committee prepared to release findings on allegations that she mistreated legislative aides and staff.
Shannon Carbone, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County DA’s Office, did not provide details but confirmed that the Denver DA’s Office is also investigating the former senator.
“The matter was referred to us by the State Senate,” Carbone said in an email to Boulder Reporting Lab. “The investigation is ongoing.”
The Denver Post first reported the investigation.
Jaquez Lewis, a licensed pharmacist, resigned in February, saying she planned to take a job at a nonprofit. Her departure followed an investigation by the Office of Legislative Legal Services, which found that a letter of support submitted in her defense was likely written without the knowledge or consent of the former employee it was attributed to.
Under Colorado law, attempting to influence a public servant through deceit is a felony.
Jaquez Lewis told Boulder Reporting Lab that the letter was mistakenly submitted with the wrong last name and that she had requested its withdrawal.
The ethics probe stemmed from a Jan. 10 complaint filed by the Political Workers Guild on behalf of former aides and staffers, accusing Jaquez Lewis of wage theft, underreporting campaign spending and abusing power dynamics.
Jaquez Lewis has denied the allegations, calling them “full of distortions and falsehoods” and referring to one claim as “actionable slander” in her Jan. 31 response to the complaint.
She told Boulder Reporting Lab on March 11 that she has not been contacted by either DA’s office.
Sen. Julie Gonzales, who chaired the ethics committee investigating Jaquez Lewis, told The Denver Post she had spoken to prosecutors about materials from the committee’s inquiry.
“It appears to me that this is an individual senator, Sen. Gonzales, trying to take action against a former political rival,” Jaquez Lewis said. “I’m very saddened by that. Many supporters came forward to support me, and that was clear by the letters of support.”
Jaquez Lewis was reelected in November after running unopposed. A Democratic vacancy committee is set to select her replacement next week to represent Longmont, Erie and Lafayette.