SILT/GLENWOOD SPRINGS – A Silt man who once ran for the United States Senate was arrested for extortion and ethnic intimidation for repeatedly calling a Latino man in Glenwood Springs and threatening to have him deported. According to reports from the Glenwood Springs Police Department, 52 year old Mark Aspiri is facing charges for the harassing phone calls that allegedly began about five months ago. According to the police report, Aspiri demanded the Latino man pay him 12-hundred dollars that was supposedly owed to a third party. The victim blocked the calls but Aspiri persisted by calling from different numbers saying he knew the man was an undocumented citizen. Police say the threats continued until the victim was frightened enough to pay Aspiri 500 dollars. After demands that he pay the remaining 700 dollars, the man contacted authorities and got a restraining order. Police discovered Aspiri has a history of intimidating unsuspecting people and bilking them for thousands of dollars. Aspiri has been released from jail and is awaiting a future court date. In 2014, Aspiri challenged Cory Gardner for the Republican nomination but lost in the primary.
