DENVER – Colorado Ethics Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit legal watchdog group, today called on Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey to launch an immediate investigation of former gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez and his former campaign manager John Marshall for making false campaign ads against Mr. Beauprez’s opponent.

According to state law, it is a class 1 misdemeanor to knowingly make, publish, broadcast, or circulate or cause to be made, published, or broadcast any false statement relating to any candidate for election to public office. It is a class 2 misdemeanor to do so “recklessly” or in conscious disregard of the truth or falsity of the statement made, published, broadcast, or circulated.

According to press reports, Mr. Beauprez’s campaign published a television ad claiming that his opponent Bill Ritter, Denver District Attorney at the time, approved a plea bargain allowing an undocumented immigrant and accused heroin dealer to serve only probation, and that this same person was later arrested in California for sexually abusing a child.

Cory Voorhis, a federal immigration agent, was criminally charged for accessing a confidential law enforcement database to provide Mr. Beauprez’s campaign with the information that led to the ad. During Mr. Voorhis’ trial in U.S. District Court last week, testimony revealed that the accused person in the Denver plea bargain was not the same person later arrested in California. During the same testimony, it was also revealed that Mr. Beauprez and Mr. Marshall knew the information in the ad was false and caused it to be broadcast anyway.

“Through these ads, Mr. Beauprez’s campaign knowingly caused false statements to be broadcast in an attempt to mislead voters and improperly influence the election,” said Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Ethics Watch. “Even worse, Mr. Beauprez and Mr. Marshall have concealed this information from the public throughout the 18-month investigation, preventing the truth about Gov. Ritter’s record from being revealed. Both Mr. Beauprez and Mr. Marshall should be assessed the maximum penalty for their egregious acts.”