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Man who claimed to be Broncos player could be locked up for life
posted by Dan Boniface written by: Chris Vanderveen
GOLDEN - He liked to tell people he was a Denver Bronco. In fact, Denver prosecutors say he went as far as to suggest he scored the last touchdown in the 1998 Super Bowl.
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But investigators say Johnny Harlan should never be confused with running back Terrell Davis. And soon, they'll get their chance to put the 40-year-old in prison for a very long time.
"It's time to pay the piper," Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey said on Monday. "Obviously, (Harlan) has not learned from his prior incarcerations, so we need to keep him out of the community as long as we can."
Harlan's rap sheet extends back to 1986 with a second-degree murder conviction. While he was given a 12-year-prison sentence, he obviously didn't have to serve the entire sentence, because in 1991, Aurora Police picked him up for car theft.
Since then Harlan has come to the attention of a number of law enforcement agencies. In 1996, he told a television reporter that he was being targeted by police because of his cousin Robert Harlan. Harlan was on Colorado's death row at the time.
"This really goes deep, this goes into police corruption," Harlan said back then. "I haven't done these things that they say I'm doing."
Last week, a Jefferson County jury found Harlan guilty of identity theft and aggravated motor vehicle theft. He now has 11 felony convictions on his record. Storey said it's enough to cause his office to soon ask that Harlan be labeled a habitual criminal. It will allow a judge to possibly quadruple his sentence.
Denver County prosecutors are also asking for the same thing. If a judge rules in their favor early next month he could very easily receive a sentence that could put him away for the rest of his life.
In the Jefferson County case, prosecutors successfully argued that Harlan purchased a pair of vehicles from a Lakewood Nissan dealership in 2007 using his girlfriend's credit. His girlfriend didn't know that at the time, and she notified police when she received a call from a creditor telling her that she had failed to make a payment on one of the cars. One of the cars was a $50,000 Chevy Avalanche; the other was a $40,000 Nissan, prosecutors said.
"Some people would look at these as property crimes like identity theft," Storey said. "Here that's a property crime, but it caused a lot of grief to the victim in this case."
(Copyright KUSA*TV, All Rights Reserved)
posted by Dan Boniface written by: Chris Vanderveen
GOLDEN - He liked to tell people he was a Denver Bronco. In fact, Denver prosecutors say he went as far as to suggest he scored the last touchdown in the 1998 Super Bowl.
Advertisement
But investigators say Johnny Harlan should never be confused with running back Terrell Davis. And soon, they'll get their chance to put the 40-year-old in prison for a very long time.
"It's time to pay the piper," Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey said on Monday. "Obviously, (Harlan) has not learned from his prior incarcerations, so we need to keep him out of the community as long as we can."
Harlan's rap sheet extends back to 1986 with a second-degree murder conviction. While he was given a 12-year-prison sentence, he obviously didn't have to serve the entire sentence, because in 1991, Aurora Police picked him up for car theft.
Since then Harlan has come to the attention of a number of law enforcement agencies. In 1996, he told a television reporter that he was being targeted by police because of his cousin Robert Harlan. Harlan was on Colorado's death row at the time.
"This really goes deep, this goes into police corruption," Harlan said back then. "I haven't done these things that they say I'm doing."
Last week, a Jefferson County jury found Harlan guilty of identity theft and aggravated motor vehicle theft. He now has 11 felony convictions on his record. Storey said it's enough to cause his office to soon ask that Harlan be labeled a habitual criminal. It will allow a judge to possibly quadruple his sentence.
Denver County prosecutors are also asking for the same thing. If a judge rules in their favor early next month he could very easily receive a sentence that could put him away for the rest of his life.
In the Jefferson County case, prosecutors successfully argued that Harlan purchased a pair of vehicles from a Lakewood Nissan dealership in 2007 using his girlfriend's credit. His girlfriend didn't know that at the time, and she notified police when she received a call from a creditor telling her that she had failed to make a payment on one of the cars. One of the cars was a $50,000 Chevy Avalanche; the other was a $40,000 Nissan, prosecutors said.
"Some people would look at these as property crimes like identity theft," Storey said. "Here that's a property crime, but it caused a lot of grief to the victim in this case."
(Copyright KUSA*TV, All Rights Reserved)
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