A Colorado state senator who previously resigned in disgrace has now been hit with a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant, which is punishable by up to six years in prison and a $500,000 fine, after she allegedly forged a letter of support after her staff complained that she was mistreating them.
For background, State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D-CO) abruptly announced her resignation on Facebook on February 18, 2025, saying that she was leaving public office to work with a non-profit. However, at the time, Sen. Jaquez Lewis was being investigated by the Colorado Senate Ethics Committee for alleged mistreatment of her staff.
Furthermore, the committee’s investigation concluded that Jaquez Lewis had forged at least one letter of support in an attempt to clear her name and make it appear that her staff had no complaints against her. Her attempt at artifice backfired, and she ended up having a felony charge filed against her on July 6, 2025. In response, her attorney, Craig Lewis Truman, said, “I’m sure when all the facts are known in this difficult and complex case that justice will be done.”
Importantly, after the Senate Ethics Committee questioned Jaquez Lewis about her allegedly forged letter, she claimed that she was simply relaying information that one of her aides had told her over the years. However, Jaquez Lewis addressed the letter in the aide’s name and wrote it in the first person, saying, “She was a terrific boss. I would tell anyone to work with Sen. Jaquez Lewis anytime and anywhere.”
Moreover, the investigation into Jaquez Lewis’ treatment of her employees began when four of her former staffers told Colorado Public Radio that the state senator had “withheld wages, set unreasonably demanding work schedules, and attempted to prevent them from communicating with other people in the Democratic political sphere.”
After the statements of the former staffers led to the ethics investigation, Jaquez Lewis accused her former aides of “scapegoating” her in a play for power, writing, “This complaint is no more than a compilation of incidents unsupported by actual facts that are meant to focus attention on valid universal aide issues by scapegoating one senator.”
Moreover, writing in an official response to the investigation sent on January 31, 2025, Jaquez Lewis claimed that she was “being dragged through the mud for political ends.” She went on to say that the Political Workers Guild (PWG), the union that represents Democratic political staffers, was using “false allegations” and “using me to showcase its concerns.”
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After Jaquez Lewis wrote her response to the allegations against her, Sen. Dylan Roberts, another Colorado state Democrat, said of her response, “The document, I don’t think, contains any sort of apology.” State Sen. Roberts added that while Jaquez Lewis had “every right to dispute the allegations and provide justification for that,” it was impossible to deny that “a multitude of aides feel victimized for a variety of reasons.”
Featured image credit: Former CO State Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis via Facebook