Lakeside’s ex-clerk joined her father, the town’s former chief of police, in pleading guilty to embezzlement this week after the two used public funds to buy and resell police vehicles for profit.
Brenda Hamilton, 51, on Monday admitted to embezzling public property, a class five felony. Three additional counts of embezzlement and charges of theft, impersonating a peace officer and official misconduct were dropped as part of her plea deal.
Hamilton and her father, Robert Gordanier, were indicted last year after prosecutors say Gordanier bought police vehicles and sold them for a fraction of their market value to Hamilton, who resold the vehicles for thousands of dollars more.
Hamilton also allegedly tried to detain a suspicious person while behind the wheel of a police vehicle in 2023, despite not being certified as a police officer in Colorado, and used a town credit card to shop at Costco.
Gordanier pleaded guilty to embezzlement and official misconduct in January and was sentenced to four years of probation. Hamilton will be sentenced May 5, according to court records.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.