Pubdate: Sun, 27 Oct 2002
Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2002, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: Michele Ames, John C. Ensslin,

CRIMINAL RECORDS BARED

Background Checks On Candidates Reveal Drug Offenses, DUIs

Everything from youthful indiscretions to more serious offenses mark the 
pasts of some people hoping to be elected this November.

The Rocky Mountain News checked every Colorado candidate seeking office at 
the state level or higher to see if they had a criminal record.

The checks were done through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. 
Individuals whose cases were ultimately dismissed have been omitted.

. Colorado Reform Party candidate Christopher Wilson, who is running for 
the state House District 5 seat, pled guilty to domestic violence charges 
in 2001.

Wilson said he took about nine months of classes and served the same amount 
of probation. He said the charges stemmed from an e-mail he sent his now 
ex-wife during their difficult divorce. Wilson said he opted to plead 
guilty and get certain probation rather than go to court and risk jail time.

"In retrospect, I wish I would have fought the charges," Wilson said. "But 
at the time, it was quite an ordeal and I was just trying to get on with my 
life."

. Mark Entrekin, the Democratic candidate for state House District 16, was 
convicted of domestic violence in 1990 in connection with a fight with his 
now ex-wife.

Entrekin says he spent the night in jail.

"She came in, took the kids, slapped me and then they found me guilty of 
domestic violence. I tried to appeal, but I just couldn't afford it," 
Entrekin said. "I'm still to this day shocked about what happened and how 
things went."

Entrekin, a business consultant, points out that he has since been elected 
to serve as the Colorado coordinator for the Children's Rights Council.

One of Entrekin's opponents, Libertarian Scott Graves, also has a criminal 
history.

. Graves served four years' probation for his 1992 conviction for 
possession and sale of marijuana.

"It's not a big secret. I don't put a sign on my chest, but I don't keep it 
a secret," Graves said. "I'm a reasonably successful guy. I used to smoke 
pot and I sold a little to my friends. I served my time, I got done with 
it. I went on with my life."

Graves said his first priority, if elected, would be to "fix the medical 
marijuana law," legalize marijuana for recreational use and push the 
governor to pardon all drug-related crimes.

. Timothy A. Jacobs, Libertarian candidate for House District 58 near 
Montrose, was arrested in 1988 in Lafayette on a charge of cruelty toward a 
child.

"I punched my 15-year-old stepson," Jacobs said.

As a result of the arrest, Jacobs said he underwent counseling and the 
matter was "successfully resolved."

"It was a mistake I made," Jacobs said. "I don't think it's very relevant 
to the campaign."

. Libertarian Hans Romer, who is running for state House District 29, was 
arrested and convicted of drug-related charges from 1994 through 1995 and 
eventually served three months in a prison boot camp.

Romer said he was drawn to the drug trade as a way to make money. He never 
used the drugs himself, he said.

"I finally got myself straightened out and bought a house," Romer said. 
"Essentially what it came down to was a money situation. I was making 
thousands of dollars and I needed the money."

Like some other Libertarians, Romer said his drug history drew him to the 
party. He agrees with the party's push to end the war on drugs.

"Making the American people at this point keep fighting this drug war is 
ridiculous," Romer said. "I think we need to move away from this idea of 
totalitarian government telling everyone what they can and can't do with 
their bodies."

. Victor Good says that "I'm good, not perfect."

The Reform Party candidate for Congress in Colorado's new 7th Congressional 
District said he disclosed his criminal history to party officials when he 
first applied to run. He also listed his criminal convictions on a 
questionnaire submitted to the Rocky Mountain News.

His convictions include misdemeanor eluding, first-degree assault and 
driving under the influence of alcohol. None is more recent than 1989.

"Most of this stuff is 15 or 20 years ago," Good said.

The eluding case came while he was a senior in high school. He and a friend 
had gone to see the Blues Brothers that week, a movie about two blues 
musicians who dressed in black suits and drove fast. Good and his friend 
were caught trying to elude police in a brand-new truck.

"It was a stupid move," Good said.

The most serious charge occurred in January 1985, a few days before Good 
was to be married. It happened when his bachelor party turned into a brawl.

Good said he saw his brother dangling in the air after another man had 
picked him up by the neck. Fearful that his brother was about to be harmed, 
Good said he grabbed a bottle and told the other man to put his brother down.

When that failed, Good said he hit the other man over the head with the bottle.

"It was a split second," Good said.

"I don't know to this day whether what I did was the right thing, but I 
felt remorse," he said. "It was unfortunate. I wish it didn't happen."

Good said his experiences make him a better candidate.

"I'm not a well-groomed puppet," he said. "If people want to judge me, so 
be it."

. The Libertarian candidate for a seat on the University of Colorado Board 
of Regents, Flux J. Neo, has been arrested for driving under the influence 
twice in the past five years.

According to court records, Neo, 26, was arrested for DUI on Nov. 20, 1998, 
in Crested Butte. He entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of driving 
while ability impaired. He was arrested for driving with a revoked license 
May 20, 1999, in Boulder, and later entered a guilty plea.

He also was arrested for obstructing a police officer on Sept. 2, 2001, in 
Boulder. That charge was later dismissed.

Neo, a CU student formerly known as Jason Gamboa, is running for the 
board's 2nd Congressional District seat.

. Rep. Gregg Rippy, a Republican seeking his second term in state House 
District 61, pled guilty to driving under the influence in 1983.

The incident occurred when Rippy drove off a road and was questioned by 
police. He was 27 at the time.

"I could make excuses for it. But the fact is I was wrong and I deserved it 
at the time," Rippy said. "I've certainly changed my life since then."

. Libertarian Jeff Taton, who is running for state House District 6, was 
convicted of a series of charges ranging from theft to failure to appear. 
The incidents occurred from 1984 through 1987.

Taton ended up serving two years of probation for the theft of a ten-speed 
bike when he was 19. Taton said he stole the bike to get home from a party 
after having too much to drink.

"It was 20 years ago. I don't think about it anymore and I certainly don't 
do stuff like that anymore," Taton said. "I was young and stupid."

. Republican Bob McCluskey, who is running for the state House District 52 
seat, was convicted of driving while impaired in 1992.

"I was embarrassed. My family was embarrassed," McCluskey said. "I went 
through the process and look back on it as something I learned from."

McCluskey, who is president of Poudre Valley Creamery, had to take driving 
classes and do community service for the offense.

. Republican state Senate District 20 candidate Steve Jensen of Golden, a 
Jefferson County prosecutor, was convicted of shoplifting in 1979.

Jensen said he was a sophomore in college when he walked out of a store 
with a pair of shorts without paying. He immediately was caught and paid a 
fine.

"I'm being honest. That's all it was," he said.
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