Cases with almost 200 counts of animal cruelty whittled down to single charge
The criminal cases involving the caretakers of 144 horses which were removed by state and county authorities from a Granby property a year ago on charges of neglect came to a quiet, withering end recently.
Ranch manager Derek Zurface, 36, and ranch hand Theresa LaGrande, 24, were each initially charged with 94 counts of cruelty to animals, including three felony counts.
But in April, Zurface was ordered by a Grand County judge to repay the Grand County Sheriff's Office $77,852.10 in exchange for a guilty plea to one misdemeanor count. Zurface was also sentenced to serve 270 days behind bars. The judge allowed Zurface to delay serving that jail time, requiring he report by June 1 at the latest.
All charges against LaGrande, meanwhile, were dropped. In fact, her case no longer shows up in court records.
Zurface's sentencing concluded the only criminal prosecutions resulting from the unannounced seizure of the herd.
In January 2022, investigators and deputies from the Grand County Sheriff's Office showed up at the YMCA Snow Mountain Stables to take possession of the horses. Alongside were members of the Colorado Humane Society and a half dozen trucks and horse trailers from neighboring Jefferson and Gilpin counties.
Three veterinarians examined and evaluated the horses during the execution of the search warrant. One horse was euthanized. The others were all transported to a Denver Dumb Friends League facility in Elbert County for further evaluation, treatment, and safe keeping.
A list of charges were leveled against Zurface and LaGrande a month later and warrants were issued for their arrest.
However, a week later, all the horses taken to Elbert County were given back to their out-of-state owner, James Peterman. Peterman had a three-year contract with the YMCA to maintain the herd. The YMCA owns the facility and used Peterman's horses to offer horseback and sleigh rides to customers staying at its Snow Mountain Ranch resort.
Zurface and LaGrande were Peterman's employees. Peterman, according to case documents, relied on the pair to care for the animals and visited the ranch occasionally.
Peterman, in a recent interview with CBS News Colorado, said his business was ruined. The YMCA immediately terminated its three-year contract with him. All the horses have since been sold.
"They totally wrecked me, totally wrecked the business," Peterman told CBS4 last year. "It's criminal. What they did to me is plum criminal. They destroyed a business overnight."
Peterman said he is presently considering his legal options in hopes of recovering some of his losses.
RELATED Authorities remove 144 horses from Grand County property
Mike Brooks, a local veterinarian hired by Peterman to answer calls from Zurface for care and treatment of the horses, also took issue with the seizure.
"Why was that horse shot so quickly without a second opinion? Why did they have to physically remove them?" Brooks said. "I think the sheriff was showboating. I think the Humane Society was showboating. They were going to load up horses whether they needed to or not."
According to an arrest affidavit, citizens began registering complaints and concerns about the horses' welfare with the Grand County Sheriff's Office two months before authorities took them from the property. GCSO investigators initially found minimal problems with the care of the animals, but over time they found the some of the horses did not have access to food or water, and others were showing signs of overuse and injury.
When the bodies of three horses were found in January, the sheriff's office took possession of the herd.
RELATED Affidavit alleges scheme to ruin ranch owner by neglecting horses
During the course of the investigation, the sheriff's office uncovered a potential scheme between Zurface and a mid-level manager at the YMCA. That manager, a former Olympic skier born in Colorado, no longer works for the YMCA's Snow Mountain Ranch.
No charges reflecting such a conspiracy were ever filed against Zurface or the YMCA manager.
The YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch also changed general managers in the months following the seizure of the horses, according to an article by the Sky-Hi News.
The 14th Judicial District Attorney's Office, which handled the prosecution of Zurface and LaGrande, has not returned several messages left by CBS News Colorado asking about the results of the case.
Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin responded, "The court disposition in this case holds Mr. Zurface accountable for his actions. The sentence imposed and restitution to our partners at the Colorado Humane Society show that this behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
