GREELEY — A District Court Judge on Thursday sentenced 24-year old Isaiah Cordova to 6 months of work release in Weld County followed by 10 years of supervised probation for attempting to run over more than a half-dozen people during a July 2020 pro-police rally in Eaton.
In December, Weld County Chief Justice Julie Hoskins found Cordova guilty on five counts of felony menacing. Cordova was found not guilty of the one remaining felony menacing charge, as well as six counts of attempted first-degree murder. Hoskins said the prosecution failed to meet the obligation of beyond a reasonable doubt on those charges.
Each charge carried a possible sentence of 1-3 years of either probation, community corrections or prison. The wide sentencing variations meant Cordova faced a minimum of one year of probation to 15 years in the Department of Corrections.
Throughout the trial, verdict and sentencing, Cordova and his attorneys said his actions were not deliberate but the reaction of a rally attendee throwing a bottle at his car.
Hoskins said her sentencing came down to a few factors, saying that although Cordova had proven to be responsible and not a threat to the community in the years since the incident, when sentences are applied one of the things the court looks at is whether a person has an understanding of the effect that his actions have. She did not believe that to be the case with Cordova.
“The damage caused by Mr. Cordova is real,” Hoskins said. “I don’t have a good sense that you have truly internalized the impact your actions have on the victims. Even your statement today, Mr. Cordova, was truly all about you and the affect this has had on you.”
Hoskins was referring to Cordova’s presentencing address to the court. He discussed the jobs he had lost and the roadblocks he had faced since his actions that day, blaming social media posts and news media accounts of the events for those losses.
Hoskins said called this one of the more difficult cases she’s presided over, saying she doesn’t believe that the community of Eaton, or any other community is at risk if Cordova were free.
However, everything taken in whole, Hoskins said punitive damages were warranted.
“I do believe you can be rehabilitated. I do agree that the (actions) on that day do not define the rest of your life. But it does affect you, and it will continue to affect you, just as it will continue to affect the people who were there.”
Cordova was sentenced to 6 months community corrections (work release) on all five charges, to run concurrently, as well as two years supervised probation for each charge, to run consecutively. He was also ordered to pay restitution and submit to ongoing mental health, anger management and victim impact classes during his probation.
He is scheduled to report to community corrections March 31, at 9 a.m.
Micki Holladay, one of the victims said after sentencing that she is just glad it’s over and is okay with what the judge handed down.
“I don’t want to ruin anybody’s life,” she said. “I was young once. I made mistakes. But I do believe he needed to have some kind of consequences for his actions, or he is not going to learn anything from it. You can’t get angry with people over their political beliefs and just go off the rails.
“I hope he learns from it, and the next time something like this comes up, he doesn’t let his anger overcome him.”
