Boulder woman accused of bribing juror wanted to 'visit Canada for three weeks'

Judge revokes bond for Darine Chely
Vanessa Miller - Camera Staff Writer - 04/29/2010

A Boulder woman who was arrested early Wednesday by immigration officers in New York on a Boulder County warrant for skipping town on the last day of her trial and allegedly bribing a juror told authorities that she was going on a three-week vacation to Canada.

Darine Chely, 51, was arrested about 3 a.m. Wednesday when the Greyhound bus she was on was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, whose job it is to check the identity of every passenger, said Gregory Bennett, spokesman for the border protection office. Chely, who had one piece of luggage, told the officers she was planning to visit Canada for three weeks, but they refused her entry after checking her criminal history, Bennett said.

Officers drove her back to the U.S. border, where New York state police officers arrested her on the Boulder County warrant. She's being held at the Clinton County Detention Center in New York, where she is awaiting an extradition hearing, said Boulder County sheriff's Cmdr. Rick Brough.

If Chely doesn't fight her extradition, Boulder County officers have 10 days to pick her up. Otherwise, Boulder County has 90 days to get a governor's warrant for her return to Colorado.

Chely was tried last week on suspicion of firing a bullet from her home into her next-door neighbor's house in 2009. She faced charges of reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. On April 21, according to an arrest affidavit, a juror who was hearing her case found a note offering him $5,000 to acquit Chely. The note was on paper that matched crumpled paper found by Chely's chair.

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Boulder woman accused of bribing juror wanted to 'visit Canada for three weeks'