Rocky Ford police officer accused of illegally distributing marijuana

A Rocky Ford police officer, accused of illegally confiscating marijuana during an active police investigation, has been criminally charged with distribution of the drug.

Officer James Lopez is charged with distribution of a controlled substance and official misconduct, stemming from a December 2019 incident in southeast Colorado, according to a Colorado Bureau of Investigation news release.

Lopez allegedly confiscated marijuana in the Rocky Ford area and later brought about a pound of marijuana to the residence of an acquaintance, who is not a law officer, and packaged the drug for apparent distribution, the news release said.

District Attorney James Bullock on Tuesday filed the charges against Lopez. He’s scheduled to appear March 30 in Otero County District Court.

The police department in January placed Lopez on administrative leave.

The case isn’t the first time the Rocky Ford Police Department has been forced to address corruption within its ranks.

Former Rocky Ford police Officer James Ashby in June 2016 was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2014 slaying of 27-yearold Jack Jacquez.

Ashby, who was on duty at the time of the killing, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The town of Rocky Ford, in July 2017, agreed to pay $1.3 million to Jacquez’s three minor children and his mother, Viola B. Jacquez, to settle a lawsuit filed by Jacquez’s family.

The case was a catalyst for overhauling Colorado’s laws on hiring police officers.