The debate over when a mother deserves to be incarcerated in Colorado centers on Bridget Moreno, the first mother released from prison under an August 2023 state law, according to advocates. Moreno, currently in two court battles, faces more prison time for crimes committed over four years ago when she was an accountant for a property management company.
Moreno pleaded guilty to writing checks to herself and her husband at the time and falsifying records to pull money from the bank accounts of the customers for that property. Moreno tells Westword that her then-husband was abusive and coerced her into committing those crimes with threats.
According to the Larimer County District Attorney, Moreno was charged in July 2021 for a class-three felony theft, cyber crime, fraud, forgery and identity theft; at the time, she was also on probation in Arapahoe, Denver and Jefferson counties for similar crimes.
In March 2023, Moreno, a mother of three at the time, turned herself in to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. She "admitted to defrauding victims of more than half a million dollars, with a pattern of deception that spans over a decade," according to Brionna Boatright, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office. In April 2023, she was sentenced to ten years in prison and ordered to pay $140,000 in restitution.
Moreno didn't know she was pregnant when she turned herself in, she says, and didn't find out until after she went through a medical examination as part of the intake into the correctional facility.
"I had no idea that I was pregnant at that time," Moreno recalls. "As I was going through the intake process, they came back and told me, 'Hey, just so you know, you're pregnant.' I was like, 'Whoa, wait, hold on.' At that point, there was really nothing I could do."
"Until her postpartum preeclampsia is stabilized, [Moreno's] life is at risk — and she needs a kind of access to medical care that the [Department of Corrections] will not provide," Lusero wrote. "[Moreno] is breastfeeding and her baby will be deprived of certain critical developmental benefits if she is remanded."
The Jefferson County DA's office knows how important the 2023 law is, according to Boatright, but it's going after Moreno because she "refused to comply with even the most basic court-ordered conditions" during her release, including alcohol monitoring, checking in with pre-trial services and paying her restitution.
"We support and believe in the intent behind [the law], which aims to reduce harm to children and promote rehabilitation for primary caregivers," Boatright says in a statement. "When used in good faith, it offers a meaningful path forward for families. However, the statute also requires accountability and in full compliance with court-ordered conditions."
Likewise, Massman says that the Larimer County DA's office supports the alternative sentencing law "and closely follows it," but believes Moreno is abusing its power.
"Ensuring that those who have given birth have time to care for and spend with their infants is vitally important," Massman says. "However, the legislature did not intend this law to be a get out of jail free card."
Moreno's pregnancy helped her qualify for a temporary release from prison in August 2023, when the Colorado Legislature passed the Alternatives for Pregnant Persons law, which allows pregnant women to avoid incarceration. The law was a response to a 2018 incident involving Diana Sanchez, a woman who gave birth by herself in a Denver County jail cell. Sanchez's incident generated controversy after her lawyers released footage from the jail showing the agonizing delivery, which resulted in a $500,000 settlement by the City of Denver.
Moreno was released in September 2023. She was still ordered to pay her restitution, but "none of that has been paid," according to the Larimer County DA. So far, Moreno has served around seven months of her ten-year prison sentence.
Moreno's baby was born in November 2023, and the new state law allowed her to stay out of prison during a one-year postpartum period. Elephant Circle, a local nonprofit advocacy and legal aid group, lobbied for and helped write the 2023 law.
Indra Lusero, the founder and director of Elephant Circle, is currently helping defend Moreno. They argue that the 2023 state law also protects postpartum women because they and their child are still vulnerable to serious health problems up to a year after childbirth.
Moreno was released in September 2023. She was still ordered to pay her restitution, but "none of that has been paid," according to the Larimer County DA. So far, Moreno has served around seven months of her ten-year prison sentence.
Moreno's baby was born in November 2023, and the new state law allowed her to stay out of prison during a one-year postpartum period. Elephant Circle, a local nonprofit advocacy and legal aid group, lobbied for and helped write the 2023 law.
Indra Lusero, the founder and director of Elephant Circle, is currently helping defend Moreno. They argue that the 2023 state law also protects postpartum women because they and their child are still vulnerable to serious health problems up to a year after childbirth.
"We fought hard to include the one-year postpartum period, because of the significant impact it can have on the health of the newborn," Lusero says. "People in the postpartum stage are not well served by the justice system."
Elephant Circle fought for the one-year period because Colorado’s Maternal Mortality Prevention Program and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) use the same time span to define and track postpartum deaths. Elephant Circle also considered CDC data from 2017 to 2020 that found about 53 percent of maternal deaths happened between one week to a year after childbirth, and about 27 percent happened between 43 and 365 days postpartum.
Moreno didn't have much trouble receiving a one-year postpartum period from incarceration. During her time out of prison, she says she divorced her husband and began a new relationship.
Shortly before she was set to return to prison around her newborn's first birthday on November 2024, Moreno says she found out that she was pregnant again — this time with her new boyfriend's child — and due to give birth in the spring. According to Moreno, the pregnancy was an accident and the result of her intrauterine device (IUD) shifting.
"Our investigation revealed the letter was fake and the purported author had never written it," Kylie Massman, the spokesperson for the Larimer County DA, says. "She will be held accountable for any new crimes she commits."
Although no legal decision has been made in Larimer County Court regarding alleged forgery yet and the case is ongoing, the accusations were enough for a Jefferson County judge to rule that she violated the conditions of her release and should be incarcerated for the remainder of her postpartum period, which would have expired in May 2026.
Moreno didn't have much trouble receiving a one-year postpartum period from incarceration. During her time out of prison, she says she divorced her husband and began a new relationship.
Shortly before she was set to return to prison around her newborn's first birthday on November 2024, Moreno says she found out that she was pregnant again — this time with her new boyfriend's child — and due to give birth in the spring. According to Moreno, the pregnancy was an accident and the result of her intrauterine device (IUD) shifting.
"My objective was never to say, 'Oh, I'm in trouble. Let me get pregnant so I can stay out of jail,'" Moreno says. "That was never my intention."
Moreno avoided returning to prison during her most recent pregnancy, but the Larimer County DA filed new charges against her after she delivered her baby earlier this year, this time for allegedly forging a letter of employment as part of her efforts to renegotiate her sentencing. Moreno argues that the letter is real and that her former employer is lying about not writing it. Should Bridget Moreno Return to Prison?
"Our investigation revealed the letter was fake and the purported author had never written it," Kylie Massman, the spokesperson for the Larimer County DA, says. "She will be held accountable for any new crimes she commits."
Although no legal decision has been made in Larimer County Court regarding alleged forgery yet and the case is ongoing, the accusations were enough for a Jefferson County judge to rule that she violated the conditions of her release and should be incarcerated for the remainder of her postpartum period, which would have expired in May 2026.
"The state has not even established probable cause for the new charges," Lusero says. "But Bridget still faces jail time despite the fact that she still qualifies under the law for a stay of execution."
In a June 30 letter to the Larimer County DA's office, Lusero warned that Moreno has postpartum preeclampsia, a condition that causes high blood pressure and excessive protein in her urine as a result of childbirth. Lusero also warned that infants have a much higher risk of sudden death if they're deprived of breastfeeding too soon.
"Until her postpartum preeclampsia is stabilized, [Moreno's] life is at risk — and she needs a kind of access to medical care that the [Department of Corrections] will not provide," Lusero wrote. "[Moreno] is breastfeeding and her baby will be deprived of certain critical developmental benefits if she is remanded."
Lusero admits the new alternative sentencing law "has been a challenge to everyone involved in Bridget's case to figure out how best to implement it," but argues that it's also "important for strengthening the protections we laid out for people in the postpartum stage."
Moreno believes she's the target of "retaliation" for successfully advocating for herself with the 2023 law. She says she is "a pawn" for opponents of the law who want to weaken it. Lusero agrees, arguing the Larimer County DA's office is going after Moreno so aggressively that they want to use Moreno's case to weaken the law's protections.
"Because probable cause has not yet been established, it seems like the new charges were brought in a retaliatory way," Lusero says. "I wish we had foreseen better, because we didn't create a provision in the law that protects you from retaliation."
The Jefferson County DA's office knows how important the 2023 law is, according to Boatright, but it's going after Moreno because she "refused to comply with even the most basic court-ordered conditions" during her release, including alcohol monitoring, checking in with pre-trial services and paying her restitution.
"We support and believe in the intent behind [the law], which aims to reduce harm to children and promote rehabilitation for primary caregivers," Boatright says in a statement. "When used in good faith, it offers a meaningful path forward for families. However, the statute also requires accountability and in full compliance with court-ordered conditions."
Likewise, Massman says that the Larimer County DA's office supports the alternative sentencing law "and closely follows it," but believes Moreno is abusing its power.
"Ensuring that those who have given birth have time to care for and spend with their infants is vitally important," Massman says. "However, the legislature did not intend this law to be a get out of jail free card."
On Monday, July 7, Moreno again missed a Jeffco court appearance where she might have been arrested. Her attorneys told the court that she had a medical emergency leading to hospitalization. Moreno is due to return to court on August 4, when her defense team is expected to argue on her behalf to stay out of prison.
Lusero argues that the harm of sending Moreno back to prison far outweighs the risk of letting her complete the one-year postpartum period.
"Her original charges were non-violent, and she's only a few weeks removed from labor and still recovering from the impacts of labor and delivery," Lusero says. "Her freedom does not pose a risk to public safety, and it certainly doesn't outweigh the known harms of incarceration and family separation."
But the Larimer County DA's office believes Moreno has proven herself to be a risk already.
"The risk to the community exists in the fact that Ms. Moreno has continued to seek access to financial information even during this period and remains unsupervised," Massman says. "This law is in place to help support parents and their children in early development, but it is undermined when used to avoid accountability."
If given another year to avoid incarceration, Moreno says she would marry her boyfriend, who wants to adopt her kids from her previous marriage. Moreno has full custody of those children, and she's worried that they will go into state protective custody if she's incarcerated. She insists she's not trying to avoid her trial, but she wants the law at least to put her in a position to help her five children in case she is sentenced to ten years.
"I'm stuck fighting for my freedom, and I'm struggling," Moreno says. "What happens if I have no chance at making sure my kids have someone to fight for them, to care for them?"
