ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Robin Niceta, a former Arapahoe County social worker who was found guilty late last year of both felony attempt to influence a public servant and misdemeanor false reporting of child abuse, was sentenced Friday to four years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
The sentence, handed down by 2nd Judicial District Court Judge J. Eric Elliff, also carries a mandatory three years of probation.
"Our democracy works only when the people that work for government can be trusted. Those of us in government... will a tremendous amount of power, and it's that power that, if abused, causes citizens to lose trust in the system, and that is a problem," said Judge Elliff after hearing from the defense and Niceta herself, as the defense made the case for probation.
He continued, "The actions you took Ms. Niceta are... they abused the power that you had in your job. ... You were not reaching out to help a child in distress or trying to keep a parent from taking actions harmful to a child," Judge Eliff said after hearing Niceta apologize for her actions that led to Friday's sentencing. "You took the actions that you took for your own self-interest because somebody said something bad about your partner on the radio."
The investigation into Niceta started after she was previously accused of filing a false child abuse claim against Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky after the councilwoman criticized former Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson, who was at the time still Aurora's police chief, on a conservative radio talk show in January 2022. At that time, Niceta and Wilson were dating.
The day after the radio interview, Niceta made an anonymous report to the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services' Division of Child and Adult Protective Services claiming that she had "personally observed" two incidents that involved Jurinsky allegedly committing child abuse against her child, according to an affidavit. An investigation concluded on Feb. 14, 2022, after 15 days, and found no wrongdoing on Jurinsky's part, according to the affidavit.
Niceta resigned from her position on May 4, 2022, after investigators spoke with her about her suspected involvement. Jurinsky told Denver7 she believed the false report was made in retaliation.
By May 2022, Niceta was criminally charged with felony attempt to influence a public servant and misdemeanor false reporting of child abuse. She pleaded not guilty to the charges in December 2022.
In January 2023, Niceta was ordered to pay $3 million in damages to Councilwoman Jurinsky in a civil case that the councilwoman filed against Niceta for libel and slander.
Before sentencing Friday, Niceta had the opportunity to say a few words to the court. In a prepared statement she read aloud, Niceta apologized to everyone who was harmed by her actions, and said she was at peace knowing Jurinsky "will begin to have closure today."
"I will never forgive myself for the pain I caused her," Niceta said.
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Robin Niceta made up medical records, aggressive brain cancer diagnosis: Docs
In a separate case, Niceta and her mother, Janice Dudley, previously pleaded not guilty on Oct. 27, 2023, to several charges against them in connection with an alleged false medical report. They are accused of fabricating medical records to claim Niceta had a brain tumor and was incompetent to stand trial in Colorado for the charges in connection with the false child abuse complaint.
Niceta faces 10 charges, including multiple counts of conspiracy to attempt to influence a public servant, forgery and tampering with physical evidence, in connection with the other case. Dudley faces four counts of conspiracy to attempt to influence a public servant, tampering with evidence and forgery.
An indictment released in July of 2023 revealed information about the medical records Niceta’s previous defense team submitted to the court. The records included a two-page report from a person named Dr. C Marquez from New Mexico Oncology, stating Niceta had an MRI which revealed she had brain cancer, a letter denying her participation in a clinical trial, and four MRI images allegedly showing a brain tumor, the indictment revealed.
Per court documents, a person who claimed to be Dr. Marquez alleged the MRIs submitted were of Niceta’s brain. But the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office was unable to verify the identity of a "Dr. C. Marquez" or locate any person by that name licensed in New Mexico. The DA's Office asked a doctor at Denver Health to separately evaluate Niceta’s medical records. According to the indictment, that doctor claimed the MRI scans appeared to be images pulled from an internet search and were “photoshopped.” Additionally, a Facebook page for New Mexico Oncology was created in January of 2023 and had no activity after that date. A website was also allegedly created in January 2023 for the same supposed clinic, according to the indictment.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office dug deeper into the phone number, website and Facebook page supposedly tied to the New Mexico oncology clinic. According to the indictment, Verizon provided phone records referenced as New Mexico Oncology, which showed the phone was tied to a TracFone account. Verizon records tied to the number showed 91 phone calls in 138 days, of which 42 were allegedly tied to Niceta, the indictment read. A subpoena revealed the TracFone account was tied to a credit card number allegedly owned by Dudley, according to the indictment, and Niceta was an authorized user.
Investigators attempting to verify the physical address of "New Mexico Oncology" found the address was not valid.
Niceta’s former defense team filed a motion on May 11 of last year, dropping her as a client once concerns over the validity of the medical records they submitted on her behalf became public.
