Colorado AG investigating Eastern Plains district attorney for ‘potential criminal activity’

The district attorney who represents seven counties on the Eastern Plains is under criminal investigation by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

The attorney general’s office began its investigation into 13th Judicial District Attorney Brittny Lewton on Aug. 15 after Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order, as first reported by Colorado Public Radio. No charges have been filed against Lewton, who serves the approximately 81,000 people living in Logan, Morgan, Yuma, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington and Kit Carson counties.

“The conduct of elected officials is a matter of statewide importance, as is the integrity of the offices of the twenty-two elected district attorneys responsible for prosecuting crimes in our state,” Polis wrote in the document. “The Governor therefore finds that it is necessary for the Attorney General to act as the State’s prosecutor and investigate and, where the evidence permits, prosecute potential criminal activity involving the elected district attorney for the 13th Judicial District.”

The governor’s office, the attorney general’s office, Lewton’s attorney and the local prosecutor who first investigated the case all declined to comment on the nature of the allegations. CPR reported Lewton is alleged to have improperly used her position to access prescription painkillers.

When contacted about the allegations, the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council asked Routt County District Attorney Matt Karzen to aid the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Karzen said. The council asked Karzen to get involved in early July as legal adviser to the investigation because he didn’t know Lewton well and was appointed to his position in June, he said.

The full article is available in The Denver Post.