Embezzlement trial rescheduled to 2026 is latest in string of felony delays in Eagle County
Several high-profile proceedings originally scheduled for this summer are now set for December or January
In the latest major delay of a felony court proceeding in Eagle County, Avon resident Stephanie Whitmarsh’s embezzlement trial has been pushed back by nearly six months.
Previously scheduled to begin Aug. 11, the trial is now scheduled for Jan. 26–30, 2026, according to court records.
Stephanie Whitmarsh faces multiple felony charges stemming from an embezzlement complaint received by Avon police. That complaint was received in March 2023. By August of 2024 — when Stephanie Whitmarsh was finally arrested for the accusations made in the complaint — she was much more well-known for being accused of another crime, for which she was out on bond at the time.
In April of 2024, Stephanie Whitmarsh posted a $5,000 bond after being charged as an accomplice to her daughter, Sidney Whitmarsh, who pleaded guilty to fleeing the scene after killing bicyclist Mario Vildozola Romero with her car in January 2025.
Stephanie Whitmarsh has been accused of helping her daughter flee Colorado following the crash, allegedly driving her daughter part of the way to Arkansas and visiting the scene of the crime to ensure Romero’s body could not be seen from the road. She faces felony counts of accessory to crime, tampering with evidence and concealing death.
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After Sidney Whitmarsh was arrested in Arkansas in March of 2023, she was sent to Eagle County, where she pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal crash in July. She has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 3.
Not contacted until after the other arrest occurred
Police in Avon received the embezzlement complaint from Stephanie Whitmarsh’s employer in March of 2023, but she was not contacted about that accusation until April 3, 2024, about two weeks after her daughter was arrested.
Later that month, Stephanie Whitmarsh was arrested for accessory to her daughter’s crime, and a few months after that, on Aug. 8, 2024, she was once again arrested and charged with three felonies in the embezzlement case.
She is accused of stealing more than $44,000 from her employer and using the company’s credit card for nearly $4,000 in unauthorized purchases. She also faces a cybercrime charge for allegedly logging fraudulent hours through unauthorized access to the company’s computer network.
Stephanie Whitmarsh pled not guilty in April and a trial was set for July — but that initially scheduled trial also saw a delay and was pushed back to August at the request of District Attorney Heidi McCollum.
Several delayed felony proceedings
Whitmarsh’s subsequent rescheduling to December is one of several major delays that felony proceedings have seen in Eagle County in recent months.
In September 2024, New Hampshire resident German Elizando Lopez-Rodriguez made the evening news in Colorado when he was alleged to have been caught smuggling 12 pounds of fentanyl-laced cocaine through Eagle County. He pleaded not guilty and was originally scheduled for trial in August, but that trial was pushed back to January following a hearing in July.
In a less well-known case, Pueblo resident Stormy Bob Griffith, who is facing felony charges in Eagle County for bribery and extortion, also had a jury trial set for July that has been pushed back to December.
On July 8, a reverse transfer hearing for Nefi Ezequiel Armijo Hernandez was pushed back by five months. Armijo Hernandez, now 17, faces a first-degree murder charge as an adult, among other charges, stemming from an altercation on April 24, 2024, that resulted in the death of Jackson Davis, a local 14-year-old.
Davis’ family has expressed frustration with the handling of the case, citing staffing issues in McCollum’s office. Davis’ mother, in May, said McCollum was the third prosecutor to work her son’s case since the incident took place in April 2024.
McCollum represents the 5th Judicial District, which comprises four counties: Clear Creek, Summit, Eagle and Lake. Her Eagle County office in 2025 lost several attorneys who were able to prosecute felony cases. Former Deputy District Attorneys Lydia Wandmacher and Andrea Panetta recently resigned, and another prosecutor, Chris Ryan, is also no longer with the office.
McCollum is now handling Whitmarsh’s case. In an email, Assistant District Attorney Joe Kirwan said the delay in Whitmarsh’s trial was necessary due to the large number of documents the prosecution had received from the defense, saying, “because of the volume it was not possible to review prior to the trial date” of Aug. 11.
“The next date counsel was available was Jan. 26,” Kirwan said.
Stephanie Whitmarsh has a plea hearing scheduled for Aug. 20 in the accessory to hit-and-run case, and a pre-trial readiness conference scheduled for Nov. 12 in the embezzlement case.
