Lawyer furious at delay in PI drug trial

The trial of Laura Tellers – a private eye accused of smuggling drugs into a Colorado jail – has been postponed for six months, leaving her lawyer furious.

Defense attorney Lee Christian says the longer the case drags on, the longer Tellers will be out of work. “Ms. Tellers is not guilty, and she’s starving to death because of this case,” Christian said.

The trial was meant to start next week but has now been postponed until January.

Weld District Judge Vincente Vigil set the new date after a mistake in delivering evidence to the prosecution and conflicts in the availability of a key witness.

“I do find that this case presents unusual circumstances both in the factual nature as well as the complexity,” Judge Vigil said. “So I do find that additional time is justified to prepare the state’s case.”

Accused of providing methamphetamine and fentanyl to an inmate during professional visits to Weld County Jail, Tellers recently appeared in court for a pre-trial readiness conference.

At the conference, Deputy District Attorney Michael Pirraglia argued he had only just received new evidence – data from Teller’s phone totaling 23 gigabytes – and would need more time to go through it.

“We don’t have the requisite time to go through that,” Pirraglia said. “If it is going to take a couple weeks minimum to do a deep dive, I don’t know how we would be able to move forward.”

A key witness in the trail is also not available to give a deposition any time in coming months as the result of personal reasons.

Defense attorney Christian told the court the prosecution had known it would need more time to review evidence and should have filed a motion weeks ago.

“We are at the same disadvantage. Just because they’re going to be made uncomfortable by this doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”

Tellers, 52, was arrested on November 17 last year on two counts each of intent to distribute drugs and knowingly introducing contraband.

At the time, Tellers was working as an investigator consultant for Fort Collins-based criminal and family law firm, Sedlak Law, which was defending Marquis Daniels —arrested in connection with a 2020 murder.

Police say Tellers smuggled drug into the jail concealed in documents before giving them to Daniels, who then strapped them to his penis before selling them to other inmates.

The case largely derives from information supplied by jailhouse snitch, Frederick Rios, who shared a cell with Daniels.

But Christian is adamant Tellers is innocent and says she had nothing to do with any conspiracy to brings drugs into Weld County Jail.

“The district attorney has been told this repeatedly and instead chooses to believe an incredible inconsistent story. The WCDA (Weld County district attorney) brings this case for impermissible purposes,” said Christian in a motion to dismiss the case.