Private investigator accused of sneaking drugs into Northern Colorado jail is innocent, lawyers say
A private investigator who's facing charges related to allegedly sneaking drugs into the Weld County Jail is asking the court to dismiss charges and bar further prosecution. In a 13-page court filing obtained by CBS News Colorado, lawyers representing Laura Tellers argue their client is both innocent and being unfairly targeted by prosecutors.
Tellers was originally arrested in November. CBS News Colorado first reported on the accusations she faces in early March. The Weld County Sheriff's Office accused her of sneaking drugs, including fentanyl, into the jail during visits with clients she works with.
Investigators and prosecutors accused Tellers of obtaining drugs from friends of one of her clients; drugs which might have been mailed to her home address before being transported into the jail. The sheriff's office claimed the drugs were able to get past their screening process because they trusted lawyers and their teams during visits with inmates.
In a motion to dismiss the case, Tellers' lawyer Lee Christian argued his client was unfairly targeted.
"Laura Tellers is innocent," the motion reads.
The document goes on to repetitively argue that investigators and prosecutors "deliberately" did not provide the court with critical information that would prove Tellers was innocent.
The court filing, dated Feb. 8, goes into great effort to discredit the accusations against Tellers by noting the lengthy criminal history of the inmates and other individuals linked to the investigation. It also noted Tellers' decades of service in criminal defense practices and offered to provide character witnesses from both peers and judges who she's worked with in the past.
Lawyers argued Tellers was unfairly being charged with a crime based on accusations and stories from inmates and other people with lengthy criminal records, including one facing the possibility of life in prison on a murder charge.
Lawyers also argued that investigators failed to properly investigate who signed for the drugs that were mailed to the housing complex Tellers lives in. The document also said Tellers was regularly screened by jail staff while visiting inmates and that the inmates she met with were often strip-searched, yet never found to be in possession of drugs.
Tellers' defense also disputed accusations that she might have been in love with one of the inmates at the center of the investigation and noted there has not been any proof of profit for the accusation of bringing drugs into the jail.
The court filing suggested prosecutors and investigators might have used Tellers as a way to try and gain a competitive edge in court for an inmate's upcoming court proceedings.
"Cash transactions demonstrate absolutely no money coming to Ms. Tellers from any of (an inmate's) clan. She did this for free?" the filing states. "Law enforcement would have you believe she did this because she was in love with (an inmate). Have you seen this guy? It's outrageous. It's false. And the fact no money went to Tellers? Not mentioned. Ignored. This court would've liked to have known that in determining probable cause."
Weld County Sheriff's Capt. Matt Turner previously told CBS News Colorado several inmates were overdosing as a result of fentanyl making its way into the jail. He said the jail staff had learned from the mistakes of having trusted various professionals visiting inmate clients and that the jail was changing its security processes to prevent drugs from entering the jail.
Turner said that included moving to provide inmates with tablets that would provide inmates scans of the mail they receive, further curbing the amount of access inmates have to items coming from outside sources.
Tellers has been charged with two counts of introducing contraband and two counts of possession of a controlled substance -- all felonies. She was released from the Weld County Jail in November on a $35,000 bond.
