Robin Niceta sentenced to 4 years in prison by Colorado judge
A Colorado judge on Friday sentenced a former Arapahoe County human services worker to 4 years in prison. Robin Niceta was placed in handcuffs and taken into custody immediately afterward.
Niceta was convicted in November of attempting to influence a public servant by filing a false report. She made a false claim of child abuse against Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky.
During Friday's sentencing hearing the judge scolded Niceta. He told her the actions she took abused the power that she had in her job.
Niceta read a statement and called her own actions "foolish."
"I'd like to apologize to everyone that has been harmed by the choice I made that day in January. Miss Jurinsky, her family, my family and friends," she said.
Niceta was first charged in 2022 after she anonymously left a false tip with the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services about Jurinsky. Investigators cleared Jurinsky of any wrongdoing and traced the call to Niceta.
As court proceedings against her were ongoing, Niceta gave medical records and MRI images suggesting she was suffering from cancerous brain tumors and would be unable to appear in court. Investigators later found those medical records were falsified. A trial in that separate case is scheduled to start at the end of September.
At Friday's sentencing hearing Jurinsky told the judge she doesn't accept Niceta's apology and that she has no remorse for her.
"She is not remorseful. She had every opportunity to take a plea deal or to not take this through trial," Jurinsky said. "But she drug myself, family and my friends all the way through trial. And I am here again today to please ask you to punish her to the fullest extent of the law."
Jurinsky said she is "very well pleased" by the sentence.
During her statement to the court, Niceta said her decision was impulsive and that she has been struggling with severe mental illness. She said she tried to kill herself several different times last year and has been in treatment since then.