Separate Racketeering Cases Bring Lengthy Prison Sentences In Denver

DENVER (CBS4) - Lengthy prison sentences have been handed down in two separate racketeering cases indicted last year.

According to Lynn Kimbrough with the district attorney's office, Scott Diehl, 45, pleaded guilty to violating Colorado's Organized Crime Control Act. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

"He was accused of breaking into gym storage lockers throughout the metro area to retrieve car keys and personal information, then using that information to break into the victims' cars and apartments," Kimbrough said in a statement.

Kimbrough said Diehl's co-defendant, Zachary Bowman, 42, earlier pleaded guilty earlier to the same charge. He was sentenced to 8 years in a community corrections program.

"Bowman disposed of the stolen goods as well as falsely posed as a Navy veteran. Bowman and Diehl also had metal plates for making counterfeit currency," Kimbrough said.

Two others were sentenced in a separate case. According to Kimbrough, Nathan Johnson, 30, and Shelby Coombes, 23, both also pleaded guilty to violating the Organized Crime Control Act. Johnson was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Coombes received 12 years. Her term was suspended upon successfully serving 150 days in jail and 5 years of probation.

Kimbrough said the pair "broke into vehicles and stole property including tools, electronics, credit cards, and personal identification. They stole older model vehicles, and sold them to scrap yards often before victims even knew their vehicle had been stolen."

All the convictions were the result of work by the Metro Auto Theft Task Force.