Former Aspen bouncer reaches the valley’s ‘unreachable’

Gabe Cohen suddenly stopped on Hopkins Avenue in Aspen and raised his hands high in the air. Awake for two straight days, severe paranoia made him think federal narcotics agents were after him. Turned out, however, this was a figment of his imagination. 

“I had less than half a gram of cocaine in my pocket,” Cohen said, adding he hallucinated a SWAT van was about to arrive as if he were public enemy No. 1. “I wanted to go in my pocket to get the cocaine out and ditch it. But I was scared if I went in my pocket, they were going to shoot me.”

An Aspen Police cruiser did happen to eventually pass by Cohen while he stood with his hands up. This led to his arrest for felony possession of a schedule 2 substance. Being that it was 1996 at the time, he would go before Pitkin County Judge J.E. DeVilbiss.

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Five probation violations later — and absconding from a halfway house — DeVilbiss got fed up and sentenced Cohen to two and a half years at Buena Vista Correctional, a medium security state prison.

“I knew nothing about the prison system,” Cohen said. “All I know is, I remember they called it ‘Gladiator School.’ Lot of gang members and violence.”

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High on hope

This darkly humorous but poignant anecdote is one of many sobering tidbits furnishing Cohen’s newly released book, “The Peer Recovery Community Organization — How to Leverage Your Lived Experience and Create a New Legacy.”

The non-fiction autobiographical guide, which begins with two Pitkin County Sheriff’s deputies dropping off a shackled Cohen at prison, captures his journey from being entrenched in addiction within Colorado’s underbelly to helping disenfranchised individuals in Pitkin, Garfield, and Eagle counties — and beyond.  

“In this book, there’s a lot of lessons that I had to learn on my own, and some of them the hard way,” he said. “But I’m hoping to encourage people that this is doable, you know? That’s really the intention of this book, is to inspire people and motivate them to be change makers in their communities.” 

Jamie LaRue, executive director of the Garfield County Public Library District, emphasized the power of Cohen’s dichotomy of struggle and inspiration.

“This book is both heartbreaking and hopeful,” LaRue is quoted saying in the book. “Establishing a new nonprofit, he repurposed his past and his successes to create a more positive future for others, and I’ve personally seen the results. 

“Honest, direct, and deeply compassionate, The Peer Recovery Community Organization offers succinct advice for building a better life and better opportunity.”

But one could argue establishing a nonprofit after prison was — quite literally — a battle for Cohen.

Fighting your past for your future

It was 2017. Snoop Dogg and Nelly were slated to perform at a private birthday bash at Bootsy Bellows, a former Aspen nightclub near the corner of S. Galena Street and E. Hopkins Avenue — the same thoroughfare Cohen was arrested on for cocaine possession 15 years prior.

Cohen, after going in and out of prison seven times while working construction in Aspen to feed his family, had obtained a black belt in the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga and started his own valley martial arts studio. At the time, he was curling 60-pound dumbbells, and naturally, he was asked to bounce the event.

“That kind of made my name, that night with Snoop,” he said. 

He became known as “The Pitbull” for his ways on the job. 

“I’m only 5-foot, 10 inches and 200 pounds, but I was pretty aggressive,” Cohen said. “When it was go time, I was all in. I had my eye socket broken, my nose broken … I didn’t always come out on top, but I was all about it back in the day.”

He bounced clubs on and off between 2017 and 2018 in Aspen. He’d also do close-protection work for celebrities before again finding himself succumbing to his old ways.

“In 2018, I overdosed on cocaine,” he said. “I was hospitalized for six days, and that’s when I tapped out of the Aspen nightclub industry. I started doing Bible study at Garfield County Jail. Then, in 2020, I started my peer recovery community organization called Discovery Cafe.”

A sober, life-seasoned Cohen used grants acquired from the Colorado Health Foundation and the Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health to begin Discovery Cafe. This unique haven offers folks a way to get back on their feet; say you just get released from jail or prison, the cafe will help you get new identification and Social Security cards. Say you’re trying to gain employment, the cafe will help you get your general education development degree.

In addition to support systems, he has used the cafe to develop a mechanism of turning ex-convicts into successfully certified Peer Recovery coaches, who essentially pay it forward by helping others turn around their lives. The cafe currently has two locations — one in Rifle, one in Glenwood Springs.

Deadlifts and freedom

The inmates seated inside a community room at Rifle Correctional Center had a good laugh. 

It was November 2023. C.T. Fletcher, a famous Los Angeles County-based bodybuilder and three-time World Bench Press Champion, was a guest speaker and had just joked that the reason he didn’t do steroids was because it induced male impotency.

More importantly, though, Fletcher spoke of growing up in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts Riots and pulling inspiration from his cousin — also a convict — to become an public speaker. Meanwhile, the inmates were free to ask him all the questions they wanted.

Matt Wright, a massive man with tattoos covering his head who benched 500 pounds, sat before Fletcher in awe. He was awaiting impending release from incarceration. 

“I’m just excited. I feel like I have a chance at becoming a pro,” Wright said at the time. “(Fletcher’s) the guy that opens the door for guys like me.”

Cohen originally invited Fletcher to speak inside the Rifle prison, where Cohen also started a Discovery Cafe. Since then, the effort has become the leading peer program in the Colorado Department of Corrections, which now spans four prisons.

He’s also garnered more than $2.2 million in grants and contracts since 2020 and has opened two group homes for males in Garfield County. 

“I’ve had the honor of knowing Gabe for several years now. I’ve personally seen his expertise in the area of Peer Recovery and how it transforms lives!” Fletcher is quoted saying in the book. “He’s able to reach those deemed ‘unreachable.’ … This book is a must read for anyone interested in the field of Peer Recovery.”

When Wright got paroled, he flew out to Fletcher’s gym in Long Beach, California, where he participated in Iron Wars. The event is considered the most intense powerlifting competition in the U.S. Cohen, who also flew out to California to cheer on Wright, said Wright — whose hair now grows over his tattooed head — nabbed first place for doing an 800-pound deadlift.

Wright’s dad was there to watch his son, too. 

“His dad had tears in his eyes,” Cohen said. “I just think it’s so cool … For me, I just really want to inspire hope. I want these guys to know that that change is possible and to dream big.” 

To learn more about Cohen’s book and his journey, visit gabecohen.me. 

Ray K. Erku can be reached at (970) 429-9120 or rerku@aspentimes.com.