Steve Bachar listens as his attorney, Robert Swestka, speaks during a hearing in Denver District Court on Friday, March 10, 2023. (BusinessDen file)
Disbarred attorney Steve Bachar’s death in a cell at the Rifle Correctional Center last month was caused by an undiagnosed heart problem and followed days of complaints about his health.
Bachar, 58, was found dead March 15, four months into a three-year prison sentence for theft. His death prompted investigations by the Colorado Department of Corrections, which is still probing, and Garfield County Coroner’s Office, which released its findings Tuesday.
In the week before he died, Bachar complained to prison staff about shortness of breath, dizziness and hypertension, according to the coroner’s investigation, which included interviews with law enforcement officers and medical officials at the Rifle Correctional Center.
“Regarding Mr. Bachar’s complaints, I can confirm that we did indeed respond to them and medical attention was provided,” said CDOC spokeswoman Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia.
Dr. Dean Havlik, a pathologist in Grand Junction who autopsied him, determined that Bachar died of coronary artery atherosclerosis, or a buildup of cholesterol in the walls of the arteries that lead to the heart. Atherosclerosis is treatable, according to Mayo Clinic.
“There were no injuries that contributed to death,” according to Havlik’s autopsy report, and a “toxicological examination…showed only the presence of caffeine,” he wrote.
When he was sentenced to prison in early November, Bachar referred to unspecified health challenges, telling Denver District Court Judge Eric Johnson that he has “some pretty significant health issues that I know focus me on the need to live a good, open, honest life.”
But heart disease wasn’t among those known issues, according to the autopsy. Havlik found that Bachar “had no significant known past medical history” of heart disease.
Bachar was sent to prison for stealing from a North Carolina man named Jamie Lindsay. Bachar talked Lindsay, a former friend, into investing $125,000 in Bachar’s company, Empowerment Capital, by misrepresenting the risks associated with that investment, then spent most of Lindsay’s money on personal expenses, as Bachar admitted last year.
Bachar tried to appeal his sentence on Jan. 29. Writing from the Rifle Correctional Center, he asked the Colorado Court of Appeals to let him file an appeal well after a Dec. 26 deadline to do so had passed. The court denied his request March 7, a week before his death.
Bachar’s first scheduled parole hearing was set for this November and he would have been eligible for parole in February 2025. His mandatory release date was Aug. 9, 2026.
Steve Bachar listens as his attorney, Robert Swestka, speaks during a hearing in Denver District Court on Friday, March 10, 2023. (BusinessDen file)
Disbarred attorney Steve Bachar’s death in a cell at the Rifle Correctional Center last month was caused by an undiagnosed heart problem and followed days of complaints about his health.
Bachar, 58, was found dead March 15, four months into a three-year prison sentence for theft. His death prompted investigations by the Colorado Department of Corrections, which is still probing, and Garfield County Coroner’s Office, which released its findings Tuesday.
In the week before he died, Bachar complained to prison staff about shortness of breath, dizziness and hypertension, according to the coroner’s investigation, which included interviews with law enforcement officers and medical officials at the Rifle Correctional Center.
“Regarding Mr. Bachar’s complaints, I can confirm that we did indeed respond to them and medical attention was provided,” said CDOC spokeswoman Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia.
Dr. Dean Havlik, a pathologist in Grand Junction who autopsied him, determined that Bachar died of coronary artery atherosclerosis, or a buildup of cholesterol in the walls of the arteries that lead to the heart. Atherosclerosis is treatable, according to Mayo Clinic.
“There were no injuries that contributed to death,” according to Havlik’s autopsy report, and a “toxicological examination…showed only the presence of caffeine,” he wrote.
When he was sentenced to prison in early November, Bachar referred to unspecified health challenges, telling Denver District Court Judge Eric Johnson that he has “some pretty significant health issues that I know focus me on the need to live a good, open, honest life.”
But heart disease wasn’t among those known issues, according to the autopsy. Havlik found that Bachar “had no significant known past medical history” of heart disease.
Bachar was sent to prison for stealing from a North Carolina man named Jamie Lindsay. Bachar talked Lindsay, a former friend, into investing $125,000 in Bachar’s company, Empowerment Capital, by misrepresenting the risks associated with that investment, then spent most of Lindsay’s money on personal expenses, as Bachar admitted last year.
Bachar tried to appeal his sentence on Jan. 29. Writing from the Rifle Correctional Center, he asked the Colorado Court of Appeals to let him file an appeal well after a Dec. 26 deadline to do so had passed. The court denied his request March 7, a week before his death.
Bachar’s first scheduled parole hearing was set for this November and he would have been eligible for parole in February 2025. His mandatory release date was Aug. 9, 2026.
