Five law enforcement officers in Colorado’s Mesa County are facing formal discipline after a traffic stop led to the arrest of a University of Utah student by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — an outcome that state law explicitly seeks to prevent.
The incident unfolded on June 4, when Deputy Alexander Zwinck stopped Caroline Dias-Goncalves while she was driving through Colorado. According to an administrative review by the Sheriff’s Office, Zwinck shared details from that stop in a group chat that included officers from both Homeland Security Investigations and ICE.
That step, investigators concluded, violated Colorado Senate Bill 25-276, legislation designed to limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
This story is not getting talked about enough
Five Colorado Law Enforcement officers are facing unpaid leave, demotions, forced counseling, lawsuits, and fines for alerting ICE about an illegal alien
Attorney General Phil Weiser is personally overseeing that they get punished. pic.twitter.com/zZ7oOYppqS
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 7, 2025
The sanctions were swift and public. Zwinck will serve three weeks of unpaid administrative leave and will be removed from his current assignment, returning to general patrol duties. Deputy Erik Olsen, also linked to the information-sharing, received two weeks of unpaid leave and the same reassignment. Sergeant Joe LeMoine was suspended without pay for two days. Lieutenant David Holdren will carry a permanent letter of reprimand in his personnel file. Captain Curtis Brammer, the most senior officer implicated, received “documented counseling” — a term of art for an official warning without loss of pay or rank.
Omg! They’re punishing them for doing the right thing!?
— Alpha-Bravo (@aburk203) August 7, 2025
The contrast in penalties reflects the chain of command and the degree of direct involvement, but the common thread is clear: Colorado’s “sanctuary” protections for immigrants now carry internal consequences for officers who cross the statutory line.
Colorado law enforcement needs to sue for being unconstitutionally targeted like this.
Helping to deport illegals is a patriotic act.
It needs to be encouraged and rewarded.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) August 7, 2025
The case illustrates the tension between state policy and federal immigration enforcement, particularly when the encounter begins as a routine local matter. For the Sheriff’s Office, the review’s conclusion signals an attempt to bring its practices into line with state law, even at the cost of disciplining its own personnel. For critics of the law, the outcome underscores a different point — that local officers can face career-altering consequences simply for communicating with federal counterparts about someone in their custody.
