SAN LUIS — Former Costilla County Undersheriff Andrew Espinoza, 40, was present for disposition of charges against him Friday afternoon, but no attorneys were available and the matter was set by phone.
He will make a first appearance at 1 p.m. July 12 before 12th Judicial District Judge Patti Swift.
Espinoza faces several charges, including felonies and an accusation of official misconduct, for allegedly violating state wildlife laws as a hunting guide and outfitter. He was arrested and charged in December 2016.
Part of the complaint is that he helped his clients hunt on land where they were not permitted.
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 arrest 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.
“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 discovered proper regulations had not been followed.
According to the warrant, the hunters told officers they had been hunting in San Luis with a man named “Andy Espinoza” of A&A Outfitters, who was also the undersheriff of Costilla County.
After an extended period of follow-up work, Colorado wildlife officials 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 contacted Espinoza, who allegedly said he charged $4,500 per person for an all-inclusive guided hunt whether it was for deer or elk. Espinoza also told the undercover detective that he was undersheriff of Costilla County
“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.”
When the undercover officers arrived in Colorado to meet Espinoza for the hunt in November, the warrant alleges Espinoza admitted that the deer license he had instructed them to buy was effectively invalid. The warrant claims Espinoza told them, “the game warden knew what vehicles (Espinoza) drove and that the game warden would leave them alone.”
A lot of wildlife cases just seem to take a lot of time,” Lewandowski said.
“It’s not unusual for wildlife cases to go three, four or five years.”