Lauren Boebert's Ex-Husband Gets Unsupervised Probation, $40 Fine in Plea Deal (2024)

Representative Lauren Boebert's ex-husband, Jayson, walked into court today, June 12, facing charges of assault, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, prohibited use of a weapon, harassment and obstruction of a peace officer for two different incidentsthat involved the congresswoman and their adult son, Tyler, from earlier this year.

He walked out with just one charge actually sticking — an added count of reckless endangerment in the case involving Tyler— after accepting a plea deal from the 9th Judicial District Attorney's Office that dropped all other charges.

While the crime of reckless endangerment is considered a Class 2 misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of up to 120 days in jail and a fine of up to $750, Judge Jonathan Pototsky chose to give Jayson just six months of unsupervised probation and a $40 fine, plus court costs.

The slap on the wrist was accompanied by comments from the prosecutor, Pototsky and Jayson's lawyer, Andrew Nolan, who provided information and explanations for the plea deal.

"Mr. Boebert does take responsibility," Nolan told Pototsky. "He regrets being here, obviously. But most of all, he regrets how this has impacted his relationship with his son Tyler."

Jayson, who is now divorced from the congresswoman, had been accused of getting into altercations with Lauren and Tyler in early January that led to Jayson's criminal charges. On January 6, he allegedly got into a dispute with Lauren at a restaurant in Silt that led to him being forcibly removed by police. On January 9, he allegedly got into a fight with Tyler — who is currently facing felony charges himself for a recent string of vehicle trespassing and property thefts in Rifle — and allegedly assaulted him at their home in Garfield County.

According to Tyler, Jayson pulled a gun on him after Tyler called 911. This claim, however, was taken back by Tyler during interviews with prosecutors and Jayson's defense team, which helped lead to Jayson's plea deal.

"He told our investigator that there wasn't a gun involved, doesn't know why he said that, things of that nature," Nolan asserted. "There was another witness there as well that we interviewed, a friend of Mr. Boebert's, who never saw him with a gun in his hand or anything like that. So I think that was somewhat of an embellishment."

During a meeting with the DA's office in May, Tyler claimed his dad was under "extreme pressure and stress" at the time of their alleged fight and their relationship has improved since then, according to prosecutors. He was said to have spoken "very highly of his dad" and did not want the case to move forward.

While Jayson declined to speak, Nolan explained that his client wants to keep working on his relationship with Tyler and was looking forward to continuing those efforts.

"[Jayson] was extremely concerned about this case going to trial and how a trial would impact the relationship that him and Tyler have," Nolan said. "That's something that...in his words, he told me he'd never be able to come back from something like that. So he accepts responsibility and would like to put this behind him."

The defense attorney offered up a brief explanation of what went down on the night of his fight with Tyler, saying Jayson was simply concerned with how his baby grandson — Tyler's child — was being treated. The three of them had been living together at the time at Jayson's home in Garfield County.

According to Nolan, Jayson had come home that night and found Tyler not taking care of the child properly. "Tyler...who's had some issues of his own...has an infant son that kind of precipitated this," Nolan told Pototsky. "Mr. Boebert got home that night and was concerned with how the child was being cared for. And that turned into an argument. That argument got physical, and fortunately, no one was injured."

Nolan argued that since Jayson hadn't been in "any trouble" with the law since the early 2000s — when he got hit with public indecency, lewd exposure and domestic violence charges for various incidents — and since he was actively trying to fix things with Tyler, he'd be an "appropriate candidate" for unsupervised probation, which is what the defense requested.

Pototsky agreed to Nolan's ask, and even claimed he related to Jayson's situation a little bit.

"To say it's a stressful situation, I could imagine that — first of all, with four children, then with what you were going through, then what Tyler's going through, Tyler having his own son — I would imagine that could be quite the powderkeg," Pototsky told Jayson. "But again, as I tell people, you don't get to let your circ*mstances be a crutch for you to act inappropriately. That's the situation that you find yourself in, and you know, I would imagine you know more than anybody, that everything that you do, everything that your family does, is...to say, under a microscope, would be a short-shrifting view. I would imagine you get up in the morning and you have to worry about people outside your door, people watching you go wherever you're going, people watching you come back. So you should be aware of that."

The Boebert family has gotten off the hook of serious legal repercussions in the past, with both Lauren and Tyler also getting out of alleged crimes and avoiding charges in the past, along with Jayson.

In 2020, the congresswoman was accused of causing serious injuries to a former sister-in-law in Moab, Utah, after bailing out of a Jeep she was driving (with the woman inside) just moments before it crashed. The watchdog group American Muckrakers PAC and its president, David Wheeler, came forward in 2022 with recordings of the alleged victim describing what happened and other evidence detailing the alleged incident, but authorities refused to investigate, citing no records of Jeep accidents at the time.

In 2022, charges were filed against Tyler for a car crash in Glenwood Springs that left one of his friends hospitalized. Tyler, who was underage at the time, was hit with a misdemeanor traffic charge of "careless driving causing bodily harm" and his pal was charged with unlawful possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance after cops found unprescribed Xanax pills in a bag of his. Tyler's charge was later dropped down to a "defective vehicle for headlights" ticket.

In February, Lauren filed a restraining order against Jayson in relation to the incidents from January that he was arrested for. The charges were cited in paperwork that Lauren filed, along with details about another reported dispute that happened on February 2, when Jayson was said to have entered Lauren's home "without permission" and "destroyed personal property," according to the filing.

Jayson told Westword in an interview that month that no threats had been made, and he labeled Lauren's restraining-order attempt as "cruel" and "unfair." Jayson said the focus of the February 2 dispute was a trailer that the congresswoman wanted to use to move to her new home in Windsor, which is in the 4th Congressional District, where she is now running for representative after moving from CD3.

On March 11, Lauren later dropped the restraining order against Jayson, claiming a deal had been made between them behind closed doors. "Jayson and I have come to some pretty strict agreements, and hopefully those are followed and we don't have to pursue another one in the future," Lauren told the judge handling the case, who also happened to be Pototsky.

Tyler, who is nineteen, is due in Garfield County Court on Thursday, June 13, to announce whether he's obtained a private lawyer for his theft case or has decided to go with the public defender. His last two appearances have ended with continuances due to Tyler lacking direction for his legalrepresentation, citing unaffordable fees and delays with his paperwork.

"We are working to hire an attorney, but it's just been kind of hard with the prices," Tyler told 9th Judicial District Judge John F. Neiley on April 11. "Worst-case scenario, if we can't get something figured out with the lawyer, then we're going to apply for a public defender or whatever works best for me."

When Tyler showed up for court a month later on May 9, he still hadn't figured out what to do, telling Neiley he sent his paperwork in for a public defender "only a couple days" before the appearance and hadn't heard back. The explanation didn't sit well with the judge.

"I wish you had turned in that application a little sooner," Neiley said, before placing Tyler on the June 13 docket.

The eldest Boebert boy is accused of breaking into cars with friends in Rifle between February 19 and February 20 to commit property thefts. Credit cards that were obtained by the group were allegedly used to try and purchase items online and at nearby businesses. One of the victims was a woman with a brain tumor who had just $75 "left to her name," according to police.

Tyler, who is currently out on a personal recognizance bond, is facing four felony counts of criminal possession of ID documents-multiple victims, one felony count of conspiracy to commit a felony and more than fifteen other misdemeanor and petty charges.