CORRECTION: Colorado 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly removed a Brady letter from former Costilla County Sheriff Deputy Mark Garcia’s record, effective Jan. 8, 2025. The DA’s office made the determination after an independent investigation was completed. The following version of the story reflects this.

Dark SUVs lined Gaspar Street as agents from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation were in San Luis on Thursday collecting evidence from the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office. This comes two months after 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly laid out allegations of mishandled evidence by the Sheriff’s Office. The Colorado Attorney General is also investigating Sheriff Danny Sanchez’s office. 

Costilla County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Schultz was arrested on Thursday and charged with official misconduct in connection with the investigation, according to Kelly. 

CBI “took everything,” she told Alamosa Citizen on Friday. The state agency is currently in the process of transferring the custody of that evidence over to the DA’s office. 

Kelly didn’t note how many pieces of evidence were collected, but said that every piece under Costilla’s jurisdiction was collected. 

Agents were reportedly in San Luis late into the night. 

During the collection, Kelly said there was no pushback from any of the sheriff’s office employees and said Sanchez and his office have been cooperating. 

Nicolas Sarmiento, attorney for Costilla County, told the Citizen via email, “The Costilla County Sheriff is cooperating with the D.A.’s Office and CBI. Yesterday, September 18, 2025, a transfer of evidence was completed.”

During a July 9 Costilla County Board of Commissioners meeting, Kelly laid out allegations of mishandled evidence, delayed police reports, missing weapons, lapses in POST-certifications and training, and drug use among sheriff’s office employees. 

In that meeting Kelly told the commissioners, “I have never said ever that I do not trust a police agency and I do not trust the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office.”

Kelly told the commissioners that because she is limited in what she can do, she would be  asking for outside assistance. Then, in August, the Attorney General’s Office confirmed with the Citizen that it was actively investigating the Sheriff’s Office, but couldn’t say more than that. 

Undersheriff Cruz Soto said that a lot of the issues his office faced was because of low wages and overworked staff. At the time, Soto said there were four full-time deputies and himself covering 24-hour shifts across the county. 

Regarding the mishandling of evidence and storage and organizing standards that were “well below” those of the state and nation, Soto told the commissioners that a “disgruntled” employee was responsible for a lot of those issues. 

He said the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office has been faced with a high turnover rate partly due to an uncompetitive salary for deputies. 
Cruz said at the time all of his officers were POST-certified. 

According to the Colorado AG’s POST-certification database, the last decertification of a Costilla County deputy happened earlier this year in March, when Deputy Cody Benton lost his POST after pleading guilty to a single count of harassment. 

An investigation by 9News and Colorado Public Radio found that in 2022 Deputy Mark Garcia had responded to a call of an active burglary and then on his way decided to call it off and go home for the night. 

CPR was able to review internal affairs documents of the investigation. Garcia told internal investigators that he had personal issues going on at the time and had to leave to pick up his kids. Sanchez and Soto reported Garcia to POST, with Sanchez writing, “Based on our findings we are hereby notifying Colorado POST that we feel Mark Garcia was deceitful while employed as a Deputy Sheriff for the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office.”

POST found that the case did not meet the legal standard for professional dishonesty and did not decertify Garcia. 

Kelly, at the time, disagreed with the state and sent a Brady letter to defense attorneys stating that Garcia was not credible. Garcia was fired in July 2022, but was hired in May 2023 at the Springer, NM, police department. 

The Brady Letter was overturned in 2024 and officially taken off Garcia’s record in January of this year. In a letter given to the Citizen from Garcia, Kelly noted that further review of the internal investigation documents conducted through an independent investigation “does not support, to a clear and convincing standard of the evidence, that Deputy Garcia made an untruthful statement during an administrative investigation or disciplinary process.”  

In the letter she also states that the “particulars and related documentation from the internal investigation were kept in the care and custody of the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office.” 

Soto told CPR News that the body cam footage was deleted after 180 days because there wasn’t a criminal charge. 

One of Kelly’s biggest concerns was a consistent lack of body-worn camera footage. The lapses in footage, missing footage, and inconsistent use could lead to sanctions against a DA’s office, Kelly said at the commissioner meeting. 

Most police agencies utilize AXON body and dashcams. Costilla County, before the July 9 meeting, did not employ the use of AXON cameras or software. Although Soto said an earlier request to contract with AXON was denied by commissioners, which the commissioners took responsibility for. 

At an August commissioner meeting, Soto said they had received their cameras and software through AXON and the contract was official.