DENVER – A grand jury indicted 12 people who were part of a group known as “The Family” on charges of committing a series of crimes, some at gunpoint, to fuel their methamphetamine addiction, the Denver district attorney announced Monday.
Members of the group are accused of stealing the identities of more than 240 victims and taking more than $550,000 in vehicles. They also are accused of stealing and selling weapons, bicycles, sports memorabilia, jewelry, electronics, money and other items between April 2019 and October 2020, according to a news release by Denver District Attorney Beth McCann.
Sarah Marie Lore, 38, was known as the “street mom” and controlled other members of the group through violence, prosecutors said. She is accused of negotiating deals in person and over Facebook to buy and sell stolen items. The other members were known as “street sons,” “brothers” and “sisters,” prosecutors said.
Lore’s lawyer, Melissa Roth, declined to comment.
The group shared money, property, food, clothing and living quarters, prosecutors say.
The 12 defendants have been variously charged with violating Colorado’s Organized Crime Control Act, identity theft, kidnapping, burglary, theft, criminal extortion and assault. Additional details on the crimes weren’t immediately available.
