DENVER — A former Denver County deputy was sentenced Friday to 51 months in prison for aiding in drug trafficking, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announced.
49-year-old Sylvia Montoya, also known as Sylvia Dominguez, of Lakewood plead guilty to maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing illegal narcotics.
On March 6, 2019, Montoya's vehicle was being driven by her co-defendant when it was stopped by an Aurora police officer for a window tint violation. According to the plea agreement, a K-9 positively alerted to the smell of narcotics, and the vehicle was seized.
Inside the glovebox, investigators found a stolen, loaded handgun, a digital scale with residual cocaine powder, 8 grams of methamphetamine and 1.64 grams of cocaine, court documents state.
Detectives with the Denver Police Department were simultaneously conducting a separate investigation into Montoya. At the time, she was a deputy with the Denver County Sheriff's Office. She was also spotted with her co-defendant on several occasions, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
On March 28, 2019, Denver police officers saw Montoya and her co-defendant drive away from a Lakewood apartment. Officers stopped the vehicle and arrested the co-defendant on an outstanding warrant of firearm and drug possession, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Following a positive alert from a K-9, authorities discovered a clear plastic baggie containing a white powdery reside and $3,000 cash in the center console of the vehicle. Authorities also found three cellphones, $3,150 cash and a key to the apartment in other parts of the vehicle.
Montoya told investigators the $3,000 cash was proceeds from the sale of drugs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A search of Montoya's apartment revealed 102 grams of cocaine, 8 grams of heroin, 27 grams of methamphetamine, four digital scales, $1,342 cash, a dinner plate with suspected cocaine residue and drug paraphernalia, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Montoya was sentenced Friday to 51 months in prison.
“It is the actions of people like the defendant that make it harder for those in law enforcement for the right reasons to do their jobs and gain the public’s trust,” U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan said in a press release. “This sentence should make clear to the community that no one is above the law.”