A longtime lobbyist in the Colorado Legislature was charged Thursday with breaking into his ex-wife's house, placing raw chicken parts in the heating ducts and pouring bleach inside a piano.
Ronald Smith, 57, appeared in Denver District Court to hear the accusations against him. Prosecutors charged him with felony burglary and criminal mischief.
Smith's former wife, Michelle, called police in September to report a break-in at her Denver home, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
She told police that bleach was poured inside her piano, and that she suspected her former husband, alleging that he had been harassing her.
A contractor doing work at the house later found spoiled chicken parts wrapped in blue masking tape inside two heating vents, police said.
Smith's lawyer, Michael Evans, said in a statement that "unchecked publicity" based on accusations from a vindictive ex-wife and her "new, live-in boyfriend" have unfairly tarnished his client.
Evans said there are no eyewitnesses to the alleged break-in, and fingerprints found at the home do not match those of Smith.
"Mr. Smith has been an important public figure in the Denver community for over a decade, and should be afforded the presumption of innocence ... just like any other person," Evans said.
Smith, who has not entered a plea to the charges, has been a registered lobbyist in Colorado since 1997. He counted oil and natural gas company Noble Energy Inc and health care firm Allergan Inc among his clientele, according to the Colorado secretary of state's office.
He faces a possible sentence of probation to 12 years in prison.
