What does Criminal Extortion mean?

• Criminal Extortion is when a person intentionally convinces or forces another person to act against their will and to commit an unlawful act, or intentionally keeps that person from performing a lawful act.

• Criminal Extortion can also be charged for forcing another person to give money or other items of value against their will, or by forcing the other person to act unlawfully or refrain from acting lawfully due to a threat to report them to law enforcement or immigration.

• Criminal Extortion can be charged as an aggravated crime if the person forcing the other person to act unlawfully uses a deadly weapon or threatens to use a deadly weapon against them.

• Criminal Extortion is a Class 4 Felony, which carries a penalty of up to 6 years in the Department of Corrections, and a fine of up to $500,000.

• Criminal Extortion can also be charged as Aggravated Criminal Extortion, which is a Class 3 Felony, which carries a penalty of up to 16 years in the Department of Corrections, and a fine of up to $750,000.

C.R.S. 18-3-207 - Criminal Extortion

(1) A person commits criminal extortion if:

(a) The person, without legal authority and with the intent to induce another person against that other person’s will to perform an act or to refrain from performing a lawful act, makes a substantial threat to confine or restrain, cause economic hardship or bodily injury to, or damage the property or reputation of, the threatened person or another person; and

(b) The person threatens to cause the results described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) by:

(I) Performing or causing an unlawful act to be performed; or

(II) Invoking action by a third party, including, but not limited to, the state or any of its political subdivisions, whose interests are not substantially related to the interests pursued by the person making the threat.

(1.5) A person commits criminal extortion if the person, with the intent to induce another person against that other person’s will to give the person money or another item of value, or with the intent to induce another person against that other person’s will to perform an act or to refrain from performing a lawful act, threatens to report to law enforcement officials the immigration status of the threatened person or another person.

(2) A person commits aggravated criminal extortion if, in addition to the acts described in subsection (1) of this section, the person threatens to cause the results described in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section by means of chemical, biological, or harmful radioactive agents, weapons, or poison.

(3) For the purposes of this section, ”substantial threat“ means a threat that is reasonably likely to induce a belief that the threat will be carried out and is one that threatens that significant confinement, restraint, injury, or damage will occur.

(4) Criminal extortion, as described in subsections (1) and (1.5) of this section, is a class 4 felony. Aggravated criminal extortion, as described in subsection (2) of this section, is a class 3 felony.