A grand jury has indicted a Colorado sheriff, undersheriff and three current and former sheriff’s office employees on multiple charges, including abuse of a corpse and assault.
Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez and a former deputy, Keith Schultz, are each charged with one count of abuse of a corpse in connection with human remains located in the county’s Wild Horse Mesa area in October 2024, Colorado’s Twelfth Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a Friday, March 27, news release.
Indictments for Sanchez and Schultz published online by the Colorado Judicial Branch state that both men “unlawfully, feloniously and knowingly, without statutory or court-ordered authority, treated the body or remains of any person in a way that would outrage normal family sensibilities.”
The sheriff and Schultz were also each charged with five counts of official misconduct in relation to the remains, according to the district attorney’s office.
Their indictments detail how Sanchez and Schultz responded to a local resident’s discovery of a human skull and teeth with “silver-colored dental work” as well as other remains on his property.
On October 2, 2024, Sanchez and Schultz “only retrieved the skull but left the rest of the remains,” the indictments state.
The local resident testified in August 2025 to how Sanchez and Schultz allegedly treated the remains.
In addition to Sanchez and Schultz, Costilla County Undersheriff Cruz Soto and Sanchez’s son, Sergeant Caleb Sanchez, were indicted on charges stemming from an alleged “unlawful use of force” incident involving someone who was experiencing a mental health crisis on February 3, prosecutors said.
Another deputy, Roland Riley, was also charged in connection with the incident, according to his indictment.
Soto’s indictment charges him with two counts of failing to intervene and one count of third-degree assault. Caleb and Riley are each charged with second- and third-degree assault, their indictments show.
A Florida cop has been arrested for child abuse and domestic battery after getting involved in a physical altercation with his teenage daughter. Corporal Emmanuel Perez with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office has been placed on administrative leave as he’s now the subject of an internal probe. Cops in Port. St. Lucie received a call […]
Following the indictments, Danny resigned as sheriff, KUSA-TV reported.
It was not immediately clear whether Danny, Schultz, Soto, Caleb or Roland had retained attorneys who could comment on their behalf.
In response to a request for comment from Us Weekly, Costilla County confirmed via email on March 30 that Danny had resigned.
The county also said that Soto, Caleb and Riley “were placed on administrative leave while the county conducts an investigation.”
Out of three remaining officers who “were not involved in the DA’s investigation,” one of them resigned, according to the county.
The Associated Press reported that Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly, while speaking at a March 27 news conference on the indictments, said “I cannot and will not ignore violations of the trust that a community should have in their police.”
The charges against Danny and the four other men “follow an extensive investigation” that was initiated after Costilla County residents made reports of alleged misconduct, the district attorney’s office said in the news release.
The Costilla County Board of Commissioners were due to meet the morning of March 30 to discuss the appointment of a new county sheriff, according to a public notice.
Deputy Joe Smith has since been appointed as sheriff, the county confirmed to Us via email.
