The undersheriff of a southern Colorado county faces several charges, including felonies and an accusation of official misconduct, for allegedly violating state wildlife laws , in part by helping his clients hunt on land where they didn’t have permits.
Costilla County Undersheriff Andrew J. Espinoza, 39, was taken into custody Friday on an arrest warrant, court records show.
He is suspected of three counts of illegally selling wildlife and one count each of attempting to tamper with physical evidence, illegal possession of wildlife, illegal use of electronic equipment in furtherance of a crime and hunting without proper and valid licenses (complicity).
According to the warrant, Espinoza is accused — among other violations — of letting a patron of his hunting business drive a sheriff’s office patrol vehicle 126 mph down a highway.
Sgt. Ricky Rodriguez, of the sheriff’s office, told The Denver Post on Tuesday that Espinoza has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. Rodriguez said Espinoza has been undersheriff of the small department for about three years, but declined to comment further.
“CPW takes hunting violations and crimes against wildlife very seriously,” said Joe Lewandowski, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which investigated the case. “Wildlife officers vigorously and thoroughly pursue these cases, as is indicated by this investigation.”
CPW investigators began looking into Espinoza in 2014 after stopping a vehicle near La Junta that was carrying several hunters from West Virginia, the warrant says. In their truck, authorities found four sets of mule deer antlers and several bags of meat, but that the proper regulations had not been followed.
The hunters, according to the warrant, told officers they had been hunting in San Luis with a man named “Andy Espinoza” of A&A Outfitters, who also is the undersheriff of Costilla County.
Colorado wildlife officials, after an extended period of follow up work, then began working with Indiana Department of Natural Resources detectives in May 2016 on an undercover operation targeting Espinoza, the warrant shows.
An Indiana detective reached out to Espinoza, who allegedly said he charged $4,500 per person for an all-inclusive guided hunt whether it was for deer or elk.
“Espinoza told (the detective) that there were plenty of deer for them to hunt but a problem would be getting a tag,” the warrant says. “Espinoza explained that the State does it by draw and he would look some stuff up.”
Espinoza also told the undercover detective that he was undersheriff of Costilla County
When the undercover officers arrived in Colorado to meet Espinoza for the hunt in November, the warrant says Espinoza allegedly admitted that the deer license he had instructed them to buy was effectively invalid. The warrant says Espinoza told them that “the game warden knew what vehicles Espnioza drove and that the game warden would leave them alone.”
At the end of the hunting trip is when Espinoza allegedly allowed one of his clients to drive the sheriff’s patrol vehicle, saying “who wants to drive,” according to the warrant.
“A lot of wildlife cases just seem to take a lot of time,” Lewandowski said. “We’re gathering evidence and continuing with the investigation. The officers want to make sure they have the cases pretty locked up before they take them to the district attorney to file charges.”
He added: “It’s not unusual for wildlife cases to go three, four, five years.”
Court records show Espinoza’s warrant had a $5,000 bail. The 12th Judicial District attorney, whose jurisdiction the case has been filed in, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear if Espinoza has hired an attorney.
