Voorhis Found Not Guilty

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Cory Voorhis was found not guilty Wednesday of illegally accessing a confidential government database in 2006 to collect information subsequently used in political ads against then-gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter.

Voorhis had admitted to accessing the National Crime Information Center to find records on illegal aliens who won plea bargains while Ritter was Denver District Attorney, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

Voorhis also admitted to turning the information over to GOP gubernational candidate Bob Beauprez’s campaign, who used it in campaign advertisements, the News stated.

But his defense claimed Voorhis did nothing illegal because his purpose was to force change in a bad criminal policy.

The prosecution held that the jury would have to find Voorhis guilty if he just exceeded his authority by accessing the NCIS records for political purposes, according to the News.

But the U.S. District Court jury, after deliberating less than three hours, found Voorhis innocent. If convicted of the two misdemeanor charges against him, he could have faced one year in jail and a $100,000 fine, the News article stated.