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Coke charge dismissed against one Lipsey but not the other

Staff report

Editor’s note: The charges discussed in this article were resolved with Joseph Lipsey IV pleading guilty in May 2020 to misdemeanor reckless endangerment and drug possession, and with Joseph Lipsey III and Shira Lipsey pleading guilty in July 2021 to one misdemeanor count each of providing alcohol to minors.

A charge of distribution of cocaine to a minor has been dismissed against a local woman, though a similar count remains against her husband, according to Pitkin County District Court records.

Shira Lipsey, 44, now faces three counts of felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor and three counts of serving alcohol to a minor.



A similar cocaine distribution to a minor charge has not yet been dismissed against her husband, Joseph Lipsey III, 56, according to court records. If convicted, that count carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of eight years and a maximum of 32 years.

Aspen prosecutor Don Nottingham said July 15 that he planned on dismissing the cocaine distribution charge against both Lipseys. On Wednesday, he said the investigation into whether he will dismiss the charge against Joseph Lipsey III remains active.




The couple’s son, Joseph Lipsey IV, also faces the cocaine distribution to a minor charge, though the penalties if he’s convicted are far less severe because he’s close in age to the minor in question. In addition to the cocaine distribution charge, the younger Lipsey is facing one count of distribution of MDMA, felony contribution to the delinquency of a minor and several misdemeanors.

Joseph Lipsey IV also is charged in separate case with two felony counts of vehicular assault because he was allegedly at the wheel of a 2017 Tesla X that flew off Maroon Creek Road in November with four other local teens inside.

Crime


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