Judge denies bail cut for suspect in liquor sting
JEFFERSON COUNTY – A man accused of violating his probation by selling alcohol to a minor despite a previous conviction for a similar crime
Van Thien Pham
remains in the county jail after a judge refused to lower his bail.
Van Thien Pham’s request for bond reduction was denied Monday after a Jefferson County District Court judge said she believe that Pham is a serious danger to the community. The judge ordered him returned to jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bond.
The ruling came during a probation revocation hearing, which will resume June 14, two days after Pham is scheduled to face arraignment in the latest case, in which he is charged with selling alcohol to an under-age member of the Lakewood Police Department Explorer unit.
Pham is on probation from a 2007 case for selling alcohol to a teen who shared it with friends, including a young woman driver who crashed into another car, killing that car’s driver and severely wounding her young passenger.
Pham’s first court appearance on the latest charge, stemming from an April 14 LPD sting, will be June 10.
A hearing officer for Lakewood’s Liquor Licensing Authority hearing officer ordered Alameda Square Discount Liquors to close a week after Pham was charged in April His wife owns the liquor store..
Liquor Authority hearing officer Richard Miller granted a summary suspension of the liquor store’s license at the request of the City of Lakewood effectively shutting down the business at 12792 W. Alameda Parkway.
Miller ruled there was a “strong likelihood” that another sale to a minor could occur after hearing evidence presented by Lakewood’s chief prosecutor.
“Emergency action is necessary for protecting the public,” Miller said in the ruling he issued from the bench.
Pham remains on probation for an offense at the store four years ago, on March 13, 2007, when he sold liquor to another under-aged teen, with lethal consequences.
The teen and his friends drank the alcohol and later that night the driver of their car caused a two-car collision that claimed the life of 17-year-old Samara Stricklen and injured 20-year-old Seth Mutschler.
The driver, 17-year-old Nanette LaFleur, later was sentenced to four years in a youth-offender facility in Pueblo as part of a suspended 12-year sentence. LaFluer pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and vehicular assault-DU.
LaFleur initially claimed to have been a passenger in the accident that killed Stricklen, but investigators later found she had been driving.
Pham was indicted on 10 misdemeanor counts of selling alcohol to minors and was sentenced to two years in jail and four years probation in addition to community service after he entered a guilty plea to the charges in 2008. The judge also prohibited Pham from working in a liquor store as a condition of his probation.
During his trial, prosecutors revealed Pham previously had sold alcohol to minors, including the same teen who bought alcohol the night Stricklen was killed in the collision at West Alameda Avenue and Florida Street in Lakewood’s Green Mountain area.
“Working in a liquor store and the illegal sale of liquor are both in violation of Pham’s probation,” according to a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, which filed the petition to revoke Pham’s probation.
