Peo v. Schendorf

── Peo v. Schendorf ── Court: Colorado Court of Appeals Date: April 16, 2026 Category: General 22CA1785 Peo v Schendorf 04-16-2026 COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS Court of Appeals No. 22CA1785 Jefferson County District Court No. 21CR1192 Honorable Robert Lochary, Judge The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lance Petersen Schendorf, Defendant-Appellant. JUDGMENT AFFIRMED Division I Opinion by JUDGE MEIRINK J. Jones and Lum, JJ., concur NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced April 16, 2026 Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Brenna A. Brackett, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, M. Shelby Deeney, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant ¶1 Defendant, Lance Petersen Schendorf, appeals the trial court’s judgment of conviction entered after a jury found him guilty of one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. We affirm. I. Background ¶2 At 5:45 a.m. on May 6, 2021, Jefferson County Regional SWAT used a battering ram to enter an apartment in Arvada. Once inside, the SWAT team located seven individuals, including Schendorf. ¶3 The apartment had two bedrooms, an office, a bathroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a dining area. The doors to all the rooms were opened or unlocked, except for the office. Officers used force to unlock the office door. After the SWAT team cleared out the apartment’s occupants, detectives from the North Metro Drug Task force began searching the apartment. ¶4 In the office, detectives found a desk with computer monitors, several small bags, a glass pipe, a scale, prescription bottles, a small scoop, and a container with a “white crystal” substance. They also found mail with Schendorf’s name (but a different address) and 1  a prescription bottle with Schendorf’s name on it near the computer monitors. ¶5 Detectives opened an unlocked safe on a shelf in the office and found a white substance inside. During the search, detectives found two bags of suspected narcotics at the bottom of a trash can near the desk, which they collected for testing. Detectives found another safe in the office’s closet. The second safe was locked, so they pried it open. Detectives found a credit card with Schendorf’s name on it in the second safe. Detectives didn’t find mail, credit cards, prescription medication, or documents with any other names, besides Schendorf’s, during their search of the apartment. ¶6 During the search, detectives found a total of 10.39 pounds of methamphetamine and a tin containing pills. Of the pills found, six tablets were identified as fentanyl — a schedule II controlled substance — and fourteen tablets were identified as methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) — a schedule I controlled substance. ¶7 The People charged Schendorf with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance under section 18- 18-405(2)(a)(I)(A), C.R.S. 2025, and two counts of unlawful 2  possession of a controlled substance under section 18-18-403.5(1), C.R.S. 2025 — one for possession of fentanyl and one for possession of MDA. ¶8 The jury found Schendorf guilty of all three charges, and the court sentenced him to a controlling term of twenty years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. II. Analysis ¶9 On appeal, Schendorf contends that (1) the evidence against him was insufficient to sustain a conviction for possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute; (2) the trial court reversibly erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence; (3