Former Colorado State Patrol trooper wanted for allegedly stealing $100K in government benefits

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - A former Colorado State Patrol Trooper and the mother of his children lied to the El Paso County Department of Human Services for six years and are accused of stealing more than $106,000 of government benefits in the process.

For more than two months, the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) has had an active arrest warrant for former CSP trooper Colin Daugherty and his alleged romantic partner Lindsay Stafford.

In 2016, Stafford applied for government assistance through the El Paso County Department of Human Services. According to arrest warrant documents from CSPD, Stafford claimed she lived alone with three kids and had no income.

When asked why Daugherty’s income from his employment with the Colorado State Patrol at the time wasn’t included in the application, Stafford claimed her partner and the father of her kids didn’t live with her. She even provided emails from Daugherty stating he was paying child support.

"'Wait a minute, something's going on here,' said Karen Logan, the economic benefits director at the El Paso County Department of Human Services. "Then they will question more to say, 'Well, how are you paying that amount if you're only getting this amount?'"

Nearly all the claims made by Stafford and Daugherty, both on the application and in verbal statements to investigators, were lies.

"Our staff are trained to ask questions," Logan said. "So there are things that we ask that we determine are questionable."

It wasn’t until 2019 when a DHS employee flagged the case to the El Paso County DHS fraud investigation unit, because he said “he did not believe Stafford was being truthful.”

"If it seems hinky, it's probably hinky, and we make a referral," Logan said.

The investigation ended in February 2022 and covered a six-year period, where Daugherty and Stafford are accused of defrauding the government of more than $106,000 in benefit funds.

Logan said people defrauding DHS programs is actually rare but when it does happen the amount is usually way more than $100,000.

"$100,000 seems like a lot, and it certainly is, but I've seen a lot worse," Logan said.

Stafford told investigators she wasn’t paying rent at her Monument home because her parents owned the property and weren’t charging her for rent. However, when investigators called the owner of the property, he said he was not the parent of Stafford, and the rent was paid on time every month.

In an interview with investigators, Daugherty said he lived mostly in Pueblo at motels and with friends. But when investigators checked his alibis, they turned out to be untrue. Even people in the Monument neighborhood told investigators that Daugherty lives at the house with his three kids and Stafford.

According to the arrest warrant, Daugherty's legal documents, like license, vehicle registration, and bank accounts, list the Monument address.

When investigators reviewed Daugherty’s bank accounts, they found the full rent, utilities, and cable payments each month for the Monument property. Many of the other purchases were in the Monument area, not in Pueblo where Daugherty said he was living the majority of the time.

In April 2022, Daugherty and Stafford were in a domestic dispute. Daugherty filed a restraining order barring Stafford from the Monument house he claimed he didn’t live at.

To qualify for food assistance and Medicaid, a household with one parent and three kids would need to have a monthly income of less than $2,177, according to federal guidelines.

Instead, court documents state investigators “observed payments to credit card companies which by themselves would show an income above the benefit qualification of $2,177 per month, not including the other bills paid that month, such as rent and utilities."

The investigators go on to say “The expenses were consistent with extravagant shopping by Stafford for herself and the children using Daugherty’s income since she had reported no income.”

The monthly transactions totaling thousands of dollars included Victoria’s Secret, Royal Crest Dairy deliveries, and multiple restaurants.

The arrest warrant said Daugherty’s Colorado State Patrol yearly income was about $100,000. Based on the evidence, DHS and CSPD investigators said Daugherty’s income was the household income and, therefore, the family far exceeded the qualifications for government assistance.

"If you do get determined to be frauding the system, not only can it cause criminal activity on your record, but, you can become ineligible for (benefits) sometimes up to a lifetime," Logan said.

Daugherty resigned from the Colorado State Patrol in April after a criminal investigation was launched into the alleged theft.

Both Daugherty and Stafford are charged with a class 3 felony theft but have managed to avoid custody thus far. Once caught, the couple could face four to 12 years in prison.

"Sooner or later, the system's going to catch up," Logan said.