Woodland park woman acquitted of all charges tied to calling police on school board member’s wife

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Woodland Park woman, who was a leading member of the effort to recall members of the Woodland Park Park School District Re-2 board, has been acquitted of all charges by a Teller County jury. Samantha Peck, 42, was previously charged with two counts of attempting to influence a public servant and filing a false police report with the Woodland Park Police Department.

According to court records, Peck called the authorities and made claims against a Woodland Park school board member’s wife at a local grocery store. Court documents say the recall organizer told Woodland Park Police that a female had come up to volunteers at a petition booth at the local Safeway gathering signatures to recall Woodland Park school board member David Illingworth.  Peck said the woman was slurring her words, and her eyes were twitching in July 2022.

Thursday, a jury of 12 in Cripple Creek, returned a not-guilty verdict on all charges after a three-day trial. Peck's attorney, David Lane, claims charges should have never been filed.

"As a juror told me, in all the years of his service as a federal law enforcement officer, he's never seen a bigger abuse of power ever. And everybody else on the jury agreed with that," Lane said.

Lane's claims are tied to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office moving forward with charges even though David Illingworth is a Deputy District Attorney in the DA's office. His wife was the named victim in the case.

"They're using their power and connections to go after a woman who is one of the biggest assets to the community imaginable," Lane said. "This is an absolute travesty. This is using your power and your connections to file charges against somebody that you don't like. She had to live with this for a year, and the jury just vindicated her instantly."

Lane provided 13 Investigates with body-worn camera video of Woodland Park police officer Nathan Humphrey interviewing David Illingworth during the course of the investigation.

During the interview, Illingworth said, "It is interesting because there's a certain point at which you cross the line from false reporting to attempt to influence a public official."

False reporting in Colorado is a misdemeanor charge while attempting to influence a public servant is a felony charge.

Officer Humphrey then responded by saying, "I have a foundation for it because from what your wife was explaining to me is that had something to do with a school board or something like that."

Illingworth, a prosecutor, responded by telling Officer Humphrey, "If I was the prosecutor, I'd be wanting to listen to the tape. If she's, like, pushing, like, 'you need to go get her. You need to arrest her. Like she's a danger, like this sort of thing.' That's felony level."

"That is appalling. The Woodland Park Police Department should be ashamed of themselves for allowing themselves to be manipulated by a prosecutor who had a political motive for going after someone," Lane exclaimed.

For the very first time, Peck is speaking publicly. She says having these felony charges hanging over her head for a year was a "hard burden."

"It's been a very difficult year to be shamed and embarrassed, to have people look at you differently, to have it affect your work. Being able to engage in your children's school," Peck said. "Because the Illingworth family then chose to put a protective order, as if I was a violent threat to them, preventing me from being involved in the community."

Peck believes her prosecution was "politically motivated," and should have never moved forward to a trial.

"I believe it's corruption within the system. I believe that political officials like David Illingworth and Michael Allen use their position to gain power. That's what happened here," Peck said.

13 Investigates reached out to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office for comment on Peck's acquittal and why a different district attorney's office wasn't appointed to prosecute this case. In response, a spokesperson said, "We always respect decisions made by our jurors."

In addition, a spokesperson said a motion for a special prosecutor was made by the defense and was denied by the judge.

13 Investigates also reached out to Woodland Park Police Chief Chris Deisler for comment on the body-camera video interview his officer initiated with David Illingworth.

The Chief's response was as follows: "During the course of this investigation, which spanned several days, the officer who worked this case had established probable cause for the charges that were filed prior to any conversations between he and Mr. Illingworth. While we respect Mr. Illingworth’s standing as a member of the DA’s Office, it is clear in this particular instance that given his association with the victim his position, regardless of context, is biased and did not factor into the way the case was handled. Suggestions to the contrary are simply without merit."