Local man pleads guilty to weapons charges

Faces jail time, probation and rehab

Eli Pardini, a local man from Crested Butte, was sentenced in district court last Friday, February 27 for engaging in a late-night armed encounter with town marshals on December 5.

Pardini agreed to district attorney Jessica Waggoner’s terms and pled guilty to a Class 5 felony for menacing and to a Class 2 misdemeanor for prohibited use of a weapon. He will serve up to 60 days in jail (with one day’s credit for time already served), be on supervised probation for two years, and this March 10 will enter into an alcohol rehabilitation program of at least one month since he was under the influence at the time of the dispute. It is up to the program to determine how long he will be there.
Pardini’s jail time will not begin until after he has finished the rehab program, but Waggoner says the court did not set a date. “The court wants to see how long he is in treatment and wants him to focus on treatment while he is there. His attorney is to report to the court when his treatment will be terminated and what the aftercare instructions are.”
According to the plea agreement between Pardini and Waggoner (representing the people of the state of Colorado), the reason for the agreement is the “Defendant has no prior criminal history but this was a very serious incident that involved guns and alcohol.”
As usual per felonies, Pardini is to abstain from any alcohol, drugs and firearms and loses several other rights until he completes the terms of the plea agreement. If he fails to fulfill his end of the bargain, which also includes domestic violence evaluation and recovery court screening, he could face up to three years imprisonment with two years of parole. Waggoner said even though none of Pardini’s pleas were to domestic violence charges, she still thought it was appropriate that Pardini go through domestic violence evaluation and treatment since the event on December 5 was instigated when marshals responded to a domestic violence call from his residence.
Pardini said he pled guilty because he did commit the acts he is charged with on December 5. “I’m not taking this to jury because I think it would be a waste of everybody’s time,” he told the court. “I do believe this is the best course of action for me.”