Peo v. Gonzalez-Victoria

── Peo v. Gonzalez-Victoria ── Court: Colorado Court of Appeals Date: June 04, 2026 Category: General 23CA0749 Peo v Gonzalez-Victoria 06-04-2026 COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS Court of Appeals No. 23CA0749 Weld County District Court No. 20CR1743 Honorable Vincente G. Vigil, Judge The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jose Roberto Gonzalez-Victoria, Defendant-Appellant. JUDGMENT AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART, AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS Division I Opinion by JUDGE DUNN J. Jones and Fox, JJ., concur NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced June 4, 2026 Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Paul Koehler, Senior Counsel, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee Mallika L. Magner, Alternate Defense Counsel, Crested Butte, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant ¶1 A jury convicted defendant, Jose Roberto Gonzalez-Victoria, of nineteen counts of drug-related crimes. Gonzalez-Victoria appeals his judgment of conviction, arguing that the district court reversibly erred by (1) failing to merge twelve conspiracy convictions into a single conviction; (2) allowing the prosecutor to commit misconduct throughout the trial; (3) admitting improper and prejudicial evidence; and (4) admitting improper expert witness testimony. Gonzalez-Victoria also argues that the cumulative effect of these errors requires reversal. We agree with Gonzalez-Victoria that some of the conspiracy convictions must merge, reverse that portion of the judgment, but otherwise affirm. I. Background ¶2 Near the end of 2019, the Weld County Drug Task Force received information leading them to believe that Gonzalez-Victoria was involved in the purchase and sale of drugs. Over the next few months, Valentin Oliveros — an undercover investigator with the Task Force — purchased fentanyl and cocaine from Gonzalez- Victoria on four occasions. Officers then obtained a warrant to tap Gonzalez-Victoria’s phone. 1 ¶3 Between May and August 2020, officers monitored Gonzalez- Victoria’s phone conversations and surveilled him. The officers heard and observed Gonzalez-Victoria planning and executing twelve transactions to buy or sell various drugs. In late August, after monitoring communications suggesting that drugs would be transported from Arizona to Colorado, officers stopped a truck and found eighty-eight pounds of methamphetamine. A few days later, officers arrested Gonzalez-Victoria. ¶4 The prosecution charged Gonzalez-Victoria with two counts of money laundering, four counts of fentanyl distribution (including a special offender count for distributing near a school), one count of cocaine distribution, and twelve counts of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. ¶5 Gonzalez-Victoria didn’t testify at trial. His counsel admitted Gonzalez-Victoria’s guilt on the four distribution counts but disputed the conspiracy charges primarily on the theory that the quantity of drugs involved was unclear. The jury found Gonzalez- Victoria guilty as charged. The district court sentenced Gonzalez- Victoria to an aggregate 244-year prison term. 2  II. Merger ¶6 Gonzalez-Victoria contends that the People proved a single conspiracy to distribute drugs and, therefore, his multiple conspiracy convictions violate his right to be free from double jeopardy. Thus, he argues that the district court erred by failing to merge all the conspiracy convictions into a single conspiracy conviction. While the evidence supports more than one conspiracy conviction, we agree that some of Gonzalez-Victoria’s conspiracy convictions must merge. A. Additional Background ¶7 During the trial, the prosecution argued that Gonzalez-Victoria was the “[m]ain sourc