Guilty Verdict Handed Down In Stolen Homes Case

DENVER (CBS4) - The first of Colorado's "stolen home" suspects was convicted in a Douglas County courtroom on Thursday.

Gonzalo Perez was convicted of trespassing and using false instrument after taking over a home he never owned in Larkspur. Perez claimed he had the right to move in to the abandoned home under the state's adverse possession laws.

He claimed he had the right to move in to the abandoned home under the state's adverse possession laws.

CBS4′s cameras were there last year when deputies removed Perez and his family's belongings from the house.

The jury took just 20 minutes to reach a verdict. His brother-in-law Sergio Hernandez is charged in a similar case involving $1 million home in Castle rock where he had been living before he was evicted.

Three others are charged in Denver District Court in connection with a racketeering case in which more homes had been occupied by people claiming they had a right to take over the properties under adverse possession laws. Such laws normally require a property to be abandoned for many years before such laws can be used.

In the Perez case, the suspect moved into a home, in an upscale Larkspur neighborhood, that belonged to a couple going through a divorce. The couple had moved out, although some belongings had been left behind.

A real estate agent noticed that Perez and his family had moved in to the home which was supposed to be vacant. Douglas County Sheriff's deputies eventually evicted the family.

In court a deputy testified that Perez presented paperwork that showed that a relative had purchased the home for $10, but the true owner of the house said he never sold the property.

Perez will be sentenced in Douglas County District Court on November 1.