Colorado contractor imprisoned for unfinished projects, burglaries
A Colorado contractor and ex-con pleaded guilty to charges of stealing more than a million dollars from three families whose home renovation projects he abandoned after starting them.
A Denver District Court judge ordered 41-year-old Kyle Arienta to repay $1.1 million to those families, plus another $1.7 million he stole from former clients and friends to send him "investments" on a construction project that did not actually exist, the Denver District Attorney's Office stated.
Additionally, Arienta pleaded guilty one count of theft and another for organized crime. A grand jury had indicted Arienta 11 months ago on 39 total counts. Eleven of those counts stemmed from burglaries at several homes in Denver's Denver's Crestmoor, Hilltop, Wash Park and Belcaro neighborhoods a month earlier.
Following Arienta's guilty pleas Nov. 7, the judge sentenced him to serve 23 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections - a place he had previously resided following a 2010 burglary conviction in Denver. He was sentenced to 10 years in that case.
"Kyle Arienta was a prolific thief in our community, often preying on friends and acquaintances. In addition to burglarizing numerous homes in the Denver area, Arienta also violated the trust of his clients and friends, stealing significant amounts of their money. I am very pleased that, as a result of this plea agreement, he is being held accountable for those crimes. I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates in my office, as well as the detectives with the Denver Police Department, whose extensive work on the case resulted in this successful outcome," Denver District Attorney Beth McCann stated in a press release.
Arienta is currently being housed in the DOC but must stand before a judge again. Twice. He now heads to Arapahoe County to learn his penalty for a separate burglary case there. He is is scheduled to be sentenced on a single felony count Jan. 10.
A civil case filed against Arienta in Denver court is scheduled to go to a jury in August 2025.