The case of Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck's illegal search and seizure of private tax files from a Greeley tax preparer in 2008 is over. District Court Judge Stephen Schapanski drove the final nail in the coffin of the Weld DA and Sheriff's unconstitutional 2008 search of Amalia's Translation & Tax Service.
Despite having reason to suspect only a single customer, deputies took 49 file boxes containing the tax returns and related information pertaining to nearly 5,000 clients.The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of business owner Amalia Cerillo and several of clients, asserting that their privacy rights were violated. Numerous judges, including the Colorado Supreme Court, agreed.
This last ruling by Judge Schapanski orders that the temporary injunction issued in April of 2009 be made permanent. This ruling directs the Weld County clerk to destroy all copies of information obtained from the illegal search and seizure of tax files from Amalia's Translation & Tax Service. Furthermore, Weld County authorities are forbidden from using or acting upon any information learned from the contents of those files.
