COMMERCE CITY

Man gets 3-year sentence for pandemic unemployment fraud

A Commerce City man charged with defrauding Colorado’s unemployment insurance system of more than $25,000 in 2020 will serve a three-year state prison sentence, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced in a Monday news release.

Ryan Garbiso, 43, pleaded guilty on Jan. 9 to charges of identity theft and falsifying a tax return after acquiring the personal information of two dead individuals and filing for $25,051 in unemployment insurance under their names, according to the arrest warrant affidavit linked in the release.

After the claims were approved, Garbiso then accessed the funds through several bank accounts, continually provided false information to state officials and even impersonated his victims on multiple occasions, the release said.

“Unemployment benefits were a lifeline for thousands of workers and their families during the pandemic, and this defendant stole not only from those workers, but all Colorado taxpayers,” Weiser said in the release.

As part of the plea agreement, Garbiso also will pay back $25,051 to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and $1,684 to the Colorado Department of Revenue, according to the release.

— Michael Braithwaite, The Denver Post

JAN. 6 RIOT

Colorado Springs man sentenced to 2 years in prison for assaulting police

A 49-year-old Colorado Springs man was sentenced to prison Tuesday for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Jonathan David Grace was sentenced to two years in prison, three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $7,000 in fines and restitution by a district court judge.

Grace pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers in October.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Grace joined a group of rioters trying to push their way past a police line in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel entrance to the Capitol.

Grace joined a group of rioters yelling “Heave! Ho!” while locking arms and pushing against police, during which one officer was smashed between a shield and metal door frame, according to a news release.

After he was expelled from the tunnel, Grace stood nearby as rioters dragged a police officer out of the tunnel and attacked him, and then returned to the tunnel to push against police before being sprayed with pepper spray. He was arrested in Colorado on March 30.

— Katie Langford, The Denver Post