Abe Hagos, a drug kingpin convicted of ordering the 1998 assassination of a prosecution witness, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole.
The life term is to run consecutive to the life term Hagos is already serving in the 1997 kidnapping of William Loepp.
Denver prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Hagos but couldn’t pursue it because at the time of Hagos’ trial, Colorado had a three-judge panel that determined whether death was appropriate.
The Colorado Supreme Court has since ruled the three-judge system unconstitutional. The state high-court opinion followed a U.S. Supreme Court finding that only juries – not judges – could impose death.
Hagos, 30, wanted witness James Roberts killed because Roberts was going to testify against Hagos at a drug trial.
Roberts was gunned down in Denver just before he was to testify. Roberts was hit by 12 bullets fired by Samnang Prim at Hagos’ request. Prim received 90 years.
Prosecutor Joe Morales said Wednesday that he wished he could have sought death for Hagos.
Morales said Hagos has engaged in a life of crime and believed he could outsmart the criminal-justice system and police.
“He was the worst of the worst,” Morales said.
District Judge Jeff Bayless ordered Hagos to pay $2,223 in restitution to cover the cost of Roberts’ funeral. The money will come from the $3,185 seized when Hagos was arrested.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
