Colorado State Patrol troopers and local police violated state law by sharing information to help federal immigration agents in an encrypted group chat used for drug enforcement, the Mesa County sheriff alleged Wednesday.
Sheriff Todd Rowell released an administrative review of what happened before and after Mesa County Investigator Alex Zwinck pulled over a Utah college student on Interstate 70 near Fruita in June.
Zwinck shared information about Caroline Dias Goncalves in a Signal chat with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents, who then used it to arrest Dias Goncalves a short time later. She was detained by ICE for more than two weeks.
Zwinck and four other deputies and supervisors face discipline ranging from unpaid leave and reassignment to mandatory counseling for their actions, Rowell said.
Dias Goncalves, 19, is a student at the University of Utah and immigrated to the U.S. from Brazil with her family when she was 7, later overstaying a tourist visa. She and her family have a pending application for asylum, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Zwinck pulled her over for following a semitrailer too closely and, after letting her go with a warning, shared her vehicle description and direction of travel with immigration officials after they said they were heading to his location, according to text messages released by the sheriff’s office.
After the federal agents confirmed they had detained her, Zwinck congratulated the agents on her arrest by texting “Nice work,” the records show.
Rowell said he could not release the full group chat because it was created by federal law enforcement, but called on federal officials to make it public.
“The group chat clearly shows Colorado State Patrol troopers, who are prohibited from sharing personal identifying information with ICE under SB 21-131 enacted June 25, 2021, and other local law enforcement agents, subject to SB 25-276, engaging in conduct similar to Deputy Zwinck’s,” Rowell said in the news release.
State troopers no longer share information in the Signal chat, Colorado State Patrol Chief Matthew Packard said in a statement Wednesday.
“We respect Mesa County Sheriff Rowell’s corrective actions, but believe his judgments regarding the patrol are misinformed and premature,” Packard said.
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and the Vail Police Department also participated in the Signal chat with federal agents, according to the sheriff’s investigation.
Rowell also called for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who filed a civil lawsuit against Zwinck, to either drop the case or file similar lawsuits against other state and local officials who have violated state law by sharing information with federal immigration officials – including Gov. Jared Polis.
“As it stands, the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office sends a demoralizing message to law enforcement officers across Colorado — that the law may be wielded selectively and publicly for maximum political effect rather than applied fairly and consistently,” Rowell said.
A spokesperson for Weiser said other law enforcement agencies are also under investigation for “a pattern or practice of civil rights violations.”
“The Mesa County sheriff has a job to do to investigate and discipline his employees. The attorney general has a duty to enforce state laws and protect Coloradans and will continue to do so,” spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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