DUI charges dropped for Carbondale trustee
Prosecutors dismissed driving under the influence charges against Carbondale Town Trustee Luis Yllanes as part of a plea deal Thursday.
Yllanes pleaded guilty to careless driving and speeding between 10 and 19 miles per hour over the speed limit prior to being pulled over Jan. 12 in Carbondale.
“Luis deeply values serving the town of Carbondale. He takes responsibility for his actions and regrets that this case has become a distraction,” Yllanes’ attorney, Michael Fox of the Kalamay Goscha law firm, said in a statement.
“We appreciate the District Attorney’s Office dismissing the driving under the influence charges. The plea entered by Luis today is fair, just and consistent with the lack of evidence,” Fox said.
According to a police activity report released Jan. 18, an officer stopped Yllanes shortly after midnight Jan. 12 for speeding on Second Street near the intersection of Snowmass Drive, just east of state Highway 133.
After being stopped, he was “subsequently arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and issued a summons,” according to the police report. He was not booked in the Garfield County Jail, but was released to a responsible party at the officer’s discretion.
It is not clear from the activity log or the court summons what Yllanes’ blood alcohol content was, but Fox said the Breathalyzer test showed his BAC was exactly 0.08, the legal limit in Colorado.
Fox said in an earlier statement that Yllanes presented himself only as a citizen, and not as a member of the town Board of Trustees, during his interaction with Carbondale Police officers.
Yllanes was appointed to the town council in April 2017, and was subsequently elected to a four-year term a year later. He has served as chief operating officer for the Aspen Art Museum since May 2018.
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