In an October 18 column titled “Ritter reverses charges,” Rocky Mountain News political columnist Peter Blake wrote that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter “hasn't yet refuted the substance of the charge” leveled by the campaign of Republican candidate Bob Beauprez that Ritter “gave illegal aliens a break” when, as Denver district attorney, Ritter allowed legal and illegal immigrants to plead guilty to the felony of agricultural trespassing instead of to the crimes for which they initially were arrested. But Blake's column made no mention of the fact that Ritter has directly disputed that charge: The News itself reported October 12 that "[t]he plea did nothing to help illegal immigrants," according to Ritter.

From Blake's October 18 Rocky Mountain News column, “Ritter reverses charges”:

Rival Bob Beauprez recently ran another television ad in a series that claims Ritter, as Denver district attorney, habitually let bad actors walk or gave them wrist-tapping plea bargains.

The most recent spot says that an illegal immigrant named Carlos Estrada Medina was allowed to cop a felony heroin distribution charge down to “trespassing on agricultural land.”

He served 63 days in prison, then was given a suspended sentence and put on probation. Later he was said to have been arrested in California for sexual abuse of a minor.

This may or may not be an effective campaign tactic on Beauprez's part -- I've suggested before it isn't, and he's lagging badly in the polls -- but that's not the point.

Ritter hasn't yet refuted the substance of the charge, which is that he gave illegal aliens a break. Instead he's managed to turn public attention away from it and toward the manner in which Beauprez obtained his information. Shooting the messenger is an old dodge in the political game, but it seems to keep working.

Regarding agricultural trespassing, the News reported October 12 that "[t]he little-known charge became part of the gubernatorial campaign crossfire after Ritter's Republican rival, Bob Beauprez, launched a series of ads accusing Ritter of using the plea so immigrants could avoid deportation." The News reported, “Beauprez charged that Ritter allowed legal and illegal immigrants charged with drug and other crimes to plead guilty to criminal trespass on farm land. The plea, Beauprez said, is not a deportable offense.” The News further reported that while some illegal immigrants did receive agricultural trespass plea bargains, Ritter denied that the plea was intended to have or had the effect of shielding illegal immigrants from deportation:

Ritter and the district attorney's office have said the plea generally involved legal immigrants with green cards or visas and allowed them to separately plead their case against deportation before federal immigration officials. The plea did nothing to help illegal immigrants, Ritter said.

“An illegal immigrant is deportable whether they plead guilty to this felony or any other crime, even misdemeanors, even petty offenses,” Ritter said. “It (the plea) was not used to preserve an arrangement where they could stay in the country.”

Blake devoted much of his column to a criminal investigation that has arisen from Ritter's charge that in making the “Case File” ad, the Beauprez campaign might have illegally used information from a federal criminal database to establish that the person the ad identified as having received the agricultural trespassing plea bargain from Ritter is the same person who the ad states later was arrested in California for sexual abuse of a minor. Blake wrote:

Since Medina was charged under one alias in Denver, and under another alias in California, said Ritter's campaign, Beauprez must have had illegal access to the FBI's National Crime Information Center database. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to link the crimes to Medina. “Your campaign broke the law,” huffed Ritter in a debate.

Suddenly Beauprez found himself on the defensive in headlines. Ritter complained to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which - at the behest of Beauprez's erstwhile pal, Gov. Bill Owens - is making its probe a priority. Illegally accessing the NCIC database, we are warned, is a felony that can carry years in prison and fines.

The News reported October 14:

Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials say it shouldn't take long to determine if someone improperly used a federal criminal justice database to mine ammunition for an attack ad against Bill Ritter. It can be a violation of state and federal law to misuse a database. Violations include:

Federal statutes:

• It's a crime to intentionally access a federal computer without authorization or to exceed authorized access. Penalty: First offenses are punishable by one year in prison and fines.

• Knowingly conveying or receiving federal records. Maximum penalty: 10 years in prison and fines.

• Conspiracy to defraud the United States. Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison.

State statues [sic]:

• Public officials can be charged with official misconduct for using their authority to maliciously harm someone or violate state law. Penalty: 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

• Embezzlement of government property by public servant. Penalty: Three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

According to the News, The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced on October 18 that it had in fact “determined that someone accessed information in an FBI database on Carlos Estrada Medina” and that it had “asked the FBI to join in an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the use of the database.”