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Investigative reporter

Sam Tabachnik

Sam Tabachnik is an investigative reporter for The Denver Post. His projects have included deep-dives into the world of illicit antiquities, abuses of migrant workers and unconstitutional practices of Colorado municipal courts. Before joining The Post, Sam helped produce shows for NBC News, launched digital projects for The Washington Post and covered sports and arts for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

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An agricultural worker from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, who came to work in Colorado through the Temporary Agricultural Employment of Foreign Workers Act, uses a ladder to pick peaches high in the trees of an orchard on July 21, 2023 in Palisade, Colorado. According to Bruce Talbot, the manager of Talbot Farms, roughly 90% of the workers at the Palisade-based farm come from the H-2A program, and are widely seen as critical to the survival of Colorado growers. Talbott Farms has not had a violation of federal labor laws since 2011, which Talbott attributed to then-recent rule changes that he was not aware of at the time. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

Unenforced Labor: An investigation into unsafe working conditions in Colorado agriculture

September 3, 2024 at 9:37 a.m.

In this three-part special report, The Denver Post uncovers chronic abuses in Colorado鈥檚 agricultural supply chain 鈥� and the lack of action from state and federal regulators.

Gilbert Thomas sits outside his girlfriend鈥檚 apartment, where he is staying after recently being released from jail in Pueblo, Colorado, on June 3, 2024. Thomas is working to turn his life around after receiving a 660-day jail sentence for petty crimes he committed. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

How Pueblo weaponizes contempt of court to inflate jail time for minor crimes

January 21, 2025 at 4:05 p.m.

Pueblo city judges have sent people to jail for months on charges that in other Colorado courts are punished by one or two days in jail. Experts call it "draconian"...

The seven鈥憈iered pyramid of Prasat Thom, Koh Ker, Cambodia, is pictured on Aug. 10, 2022. The complex was one of the most targeted by looters. (Photo by Thomas Cristofoletti/Special to The Denver Post)

Looted: Stolen relics, laundered art and a Colorado scholar’s role in the illicit antiquities trade

March 17, 2023 at 10:01 a.m.

In this three-part report, The Denver Post investigates the role of Emma Bunker, as "The Scholar," in an illicit antiquities smuggling operation that left Cambodian temples plundered for big money.

The Pueblo Municipal Court building in Pueblo on June 3, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

Pueblo man illegally jailed for municipal contempt of court, ACLU alleges

January 21, 2025 at 4:07 p.m.

The legal action comes after a Post investigation found Pueblo municipal judges used contempt of court charges to inflate jail sentences for defendants facing low-level, non-violent charges.

A worker stands on the crane at a construction site at Broadway and 10th Street in Denver on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Colorado puts new focus on fighting wage theft in construction industry

December 6, 2024 at 4:04 p.m.

In 2023, nearly 30% of the $2.04 million in wage-theft money recovered by the Denver Auditor鈥檚 Office came from the construction industry.

Pope Francis greets people in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Pope expels Denver priest, 9 others from Catholic movement in Peru over “sadistic” abuses

September 28, 2024 at 11:05 a.m.

The Archdiocese of Denver, in a statement, said it was 鈥渟hocked and saddened by the news of expulsions,鈥� which it attributed to 鈥渄ecades-old allegations in South America.鈥�

Judge Mark Gonzales explains paperwork to a defendant as he presides over his courtroom during the morning docket at Greeley Municipal Court in Greeley on Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

How Colorado’s municipal courts became the state’s most punitive forum for minor crimes

January 21, 2025 at 4:06 p.m.

Sweeping sentencing reforms in 2021 didn鈥檛 impact Colorado's municipal courts. As a result, the potential jail sentences for minor crimes in city court now often far outpace the state's limits.

Denver subpoenas 3 strip clubs in first use of new tool to investigate wage theft

September 17, 2024 at 6:16 p.m.

Denver City Council in April voted unanimously to give Denver Labor subpoena power to use during wage theft investigations.

The Pearl fire burns in the area near Crystal Lakes in Larimer County, west of Fort Collins, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in this U.S. National Forest Service lookout camera image via 360 Overwatch.

Pearl fire was human-caused, Larimer County officials say

September 16, 2024 at 9:04 p.m.

Authorities in Larimer County on Monday issued mandatory evacuation orders due to a wildfire in the Crystal Lakes area.

A harvest crew with the Tuxedo Corn Company rips armloads of sweet corn from a field off Falcon Road southwest of Olathe, Colorado, at sunrise on Monday, July 22, 2024. (Photo by William Woody/Special to The Denver Post)

This organization has effectively eliminated agricultural worker abuse. Will Colorado farmers join the cause?

September 4, 2024 at 9:45 a.m.

Modern-day slavery, forced labor, physical violence and sexual assault are virtually nonexistent in Fair Food Program fields, one author found.

A group of workers from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, that came to Colorado through the Temporary Agricultural Employment of Foreign Workers Act, load boxes of peaches they picked that day into a cooler on July 20, 2023 in Palisade, Colorado. The workers picked and filled around 1,300 boxes of peaches that day before putting them into the cooler for storage. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

What is the H-2A visa program?

September 1, 2024 at 6:03 a.m.

The food that Americans sit down to eat at their dining room table has, over the decades, increasingly been picked, sorted and shipped by seasonal foreign workers.

A Peruvian sheepherder leaves his campsite to find his flock on National Forest land north of Craig, Colorado, on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Colorado sheepherders have been exploited for decades. The government has done little to stop it.

November 27, 2024 at 12:37 p.m.

One worker聽told The Post that he and his fellow herders lived in rat-infested trailers that lacked bathrooms or running water and some days didn鈥檛 have electricity.

Agricultural workers in a field at Star Farms in Brighton on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Wage theft, abuse and control: How Colorado farms take advantage of migrant workers

September 5, 2024 at 11:40 a.m.

"It all comes down to control," said an attorney represented migrant workers. "They have total control over these people's everyday lives."

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