Is Blackmail Illegal in Colorado? Criminal Extortion Laws (2026)

Blackmail is a crime in Colorado, charged as criminal extortion under C.R.S. 18-3-207. A person commits it by making a "substantial threat" to confine or restrain someone, cause economic hardship or bodily injury, or damage property or reputation, to force that person to act or to refrain from a lawful act, and it is a class 4 felony (presumptive range 2 to 6 years) regardless of the amount involved. Colorado's statutes do not use the word blackmail as an offense name.

Information last verified on October 17, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Colorado's criminal extortion statute (C.R.S. 18-3-207), the felony sentencing and fine ranges in 18-1.3-401, the intimate-image threat offenses in 18-7-107 and 18-7-108, and related offenses (theft by threat under 18-4-401, robbery under 18-4-301, menacing under 18-3-206), as printed in the 2025 Colorado Revised Statutes. It does not cover what to do if you are being threatened or how to get images removed (see our sextortion scams guide), image-disclosure crimes as such (see revenge porn laws by state), federal offenses (covered on our extortion and blackmail laws by state hub), or municipal ordinances.

What is criminal extortion in Colorado?

Colorado has a stand-alone extortion crime. Section 18-3-207(1) has two parts, and both must be met:

"(a) The person, without legal authority and with the intent to induce another person against that other person's will to perform an act or to refrain from performing a lawful act, makes a substantial threat to confine or restrain, cause economic hardship or bodily injury to, or damage the property or reputation of, the threatened person or another person; and (b) The person threatens to cause the results described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) by: (I) Performing or causing an unlawful act to be performed; or (II) Invoking action by a third party, including, but not limited to, the state or any of its political subdivisions, whose interests are not substantially related to the interests pursued by the person making the threat."

A few features stand out:

• No money demand is required. The intent element is to induce another person "to perform an act or to refrain from performing a lawful act." Section 18-3-207(1) does not require that money or property be demanded.
• The threat must be substantial. Section 18-3-207(3) defines a substantial threat as one "reasonably likely to induce a belief that the threat will be carried out" and one that "threatens that significant confinement, restraint, injury, or damage will occur."
• The means of the threat matter. Under (1)(b), the threatened harm must be brought about either by an unlawful act or by invoking a third party, such as the state, "whose interests are not substantially related to the interests pursued by the person making the threat."
• "Without legal authority." Paragraph (a) applies only to a person acting "without legal authority."

Is blackmail a separate crime in Colorado?

No. The offense names in Colorado's criminal code are criminal extortion and aggravated criminal extortion (18-3-207), and the article 15 loan-sharking offenses: extortionate extension of credit (18-15-102), financing extortionate extensions of credit (18-15-105) and collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means (18-15-107). Blackmail is the everyday word for conduct such as threatening to reveal damaging information unless someone pays or acts, which is charged under 18-3-207 when its elements are met.

Threats to report immigration status

Section 18-3-207(1.5) creates a second, separate way to commit criminal extortion:

"A person commits criminal extortion if the person, with the intent to induce another person against that other person's will to give the person money or another item of value, or with the intent to induce another person against that other person's will to perform an act or to refrain from performing a lawful act, threatens to report to law enforcement officials the immigration status of the threatened person or another person."

This form does not use the substantial-threat test or the unlawful-act requirement in subsection (1). It was added in a 2006 extraordinary session and amended in 2021 (HB 21-1057).

Colorado extortion penalties

The prison and fine ranges come from C.R.S. 18-1.3-401, which sets presumptive ranges for felonies committed on or after July 1, 2020: class 3, four to twelve years; class 4, two to six years. Its fine table sets $3,000 to $750,000 for class 3 and $2,000 to $500,000 for class 4.

Those are presumptive ranges. Criminal extortion committed while the person "used, or possessed and threatened the use of, a deadly weapon" or caused serious bodily injury is a crime of violence under C.R.S. 18-1.3-406 when it is charged in a separate count and found by the jury or court. A crime of violence requires a prison sentence of at least the midpoint and up to twice the maximum of the presumptive range, as increased for extraordinary-risk crimes under 18-1.3-401(10).

Is extortion a felony in Colorado?

Yes. Section 18-3-207(4) states: "Criminal extortion, as described in subsections (1) and (1.5) of this section, is a class 4 felony. Aggravated criminal extortion, as described in subsection (2) of this section, is a class 3 felony." The section has no misdemeanor grade and does not depend on the value of anything demanded.

What kinds of threats count?

Under 18-3-207(1)(a), the threat must be a substantial threat to do one of the following to the threatened person or another person:

• confine or restrain them;
• cause them economic hardship;
• cause them bodily injury;
• damage their property; or
• damage their reputation.

Subsection (1.5) adds a threat "to report to law enforcement officials the immigration status" of the threatened person or another person. Subsection (2) raises the grade when the threatened results would be caused by chemical, biological or harmful radioactive agents, weapons, or poison.

Threats to sue, report someone, or post about them

Section 18-3-207 contains no separate claim-of-right or lawful-demand exception. Its limits are written into the elements. Paragraph (1)(a) applies to a person acting "without legal authority," and paragraph (1)(b) reaches threats carried out through a third party, including the state, only when that third party's "interests are not substantially related to the interests pursued by the person making the threat." Section 18-3-207(1.5) separately covers threats to report immigration status. How those elements apply to a particular demand is a question for a lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Sextortion laws in Colorado

The 2025 Colorado Revised Statutes contain no offense titled sextortion or sexual extortion in Title 18. Three statutes speak to threats involving intimate images:

• Criminal extortion, 18-3-207. Its threat list includes a substantial threat to "damage the... reputation of" the threatened person, made with intent to induce an act or the giving up of a lawful act, if the other elements of subsection (1), including the unlawful-act or unrelated-third-party requirement, are met.
• Disclosing a private intimate image for harassment, 18-7-107. An adult commits this offense if the adult "discloses or threatens to disclose through the use of electronic media or a website a private intimate image or an intimate digital depiction without the depicted individual's consent," either "with the intent to harass, intimidate, or coerce the depicted individual" or when the actor knew or reasonably should have known the depicted individual reasonably expected the image to remain private, and "the disclosure or threat to disclose caused physical, emotional, or reputational harm." It is a class 1 misdemeanor. It becomes a class 6 felony only when the actor actually disclosed the image and the disclosure "posed an imminent and serious threat" to the safety of the depicted individual or their immediate family, and the actor knew or reasonably should have known of that threat. Section 18-7-107(1)(c) directs the court to fine the defendant up to $10,000.
• Disclosing a private intimate image for pecuniary gain, 18-7-108. An adult commits this offense if the adult "discloses or threatens to disclose through electronic media or a website a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction without the depicted individual's consent" either "with the intent to obtain a pecuniary benefit from a person as a result of the disclosure, threatened disclosure, or retraction" of the image, or when the actor knew or reasonably should have known the depicted individual expected the image to remain private and the disclosure would cause financial harm. This section has no separate harm element for the pecuniary-benefit form, so it reaches a "pay or I post" demand. It is a class 1 misdemeanor, and a class 6 felony only when the actor actually disclosed the image and the disclosure posed an imminent and serious threat to the safety of the depicted individual or their immediate family, which the actor knew or reasonably should have known. Section 18-7-108(1)(c) directs the court to fine the defendant up to $10,000.

18-3-207 has no separate grade based on the victim's age. If you or someone you know is being threatened with the release of images, our sextortion scams guide covers reporting and removal steps. For Colorado's rules on AI-generated and fake intimate images, see Colorado deepfake laws, and for image-sharing crimes nationwide, revenge porn laws by state.

Related Colorado offenses people confuse with extortion

• Theft by threat, 18-4-401(1). Colorado's theft statute also reaches property obtained through threats: "A person commits theft when he or she knowingly obtains, retains, or exercises control over anything of value of another without authorization or by threat or deception." Theft grades are covered on our Colorado theft laws page.
• Robbery, 18-4-301. "A person who knowingly takes anything of value from the person or presence of another by the use of force, threats, or intimidation commits robbery." It is a class 4 felony. The taking from the person or their presence is what separates it from extortion.
• Menacing, 18-3-206. Knowingly placing or attempting to place another person "in fear of imminent serious bodily injury" by any threat or physical action needs no demand. It is a class 1 misdemeanor, or a class 5 felony if committed with a firearm, knife or bludgeon, or a simulated one. See our Colorado assault and battery laws page for related offenses.
• Extortionate extension of credit and extortionate collection, Title 18, article 15. Colorado treats loan-sharking as its own crime, "extortionate extension of credit, which is a class 4 felony" (18-15-102). Knowingly participating "in the use of any extortionate means to collect or to attempt to collect any extension of credit" is collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means, also a class 4 felony (18-15-107), and financing extortionate extensions of credit is a class 5 felony (18-15-105).

Recent changes

• 2025: SB 25-288 (ch. 339) amended 18-7-107 and 18-7-108 for offenses committed on or after August 6, 2025; both sections now cover private intimate images and "intimate digital depictions."
• 2024: SB 24-011 (ch. 402), effective August 7, 2024, also amended 18-7-107 and 18-7-108.
• 2021: HB 21-1057 amended the immigration-status form of criminal extortion in 18-3-207(1.5), effective July 1, 2021.

Federal law

Federal law also reaches interstate threats and extortion, separately from Colorado's statute; our extortion laws hub covers the federal offenses.

Related pages

• Extortion and blackmail laws by state
• Colorado theft laws
• Colorado deepfake laws
• Colorado assault and battery laws
• Sextortion scams: what to do

This article provides general legal information about Colorado criminal statutes as of October 17, 2026. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Last updated: October 17, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is blackmail illegal in Colorado?

Yes, as criminal extortion under C.R.S. 18-3-207 when its elements are met: a substantial threat, made without legal authority, of confinement, economic hardship, bodily injury, or damage to property or reputation, carried out by an unlawful act or an unrelated third party, to force an act. It is a class 4 felony.

Is extortion a felony in Colorado?

Yes. Section 18-3-207(4) makes criminal extortion a class 4 felony (presumptive 2 to 6 years) and aggravated criminal extortion a class 3 felony (presumptive 4 to 12 years). The section has no misdemeanor grade, and criminal extortion sentenced as a crime of violence under 18-1.3-406 carries a longer mandatory prison term.

Does extortion in Colorado require a demand for money?

No. Section 18-3-207(1) covers threats made with intent to induce someone to perform an act or refrain from performing a lawful act, and 18-3-207(1.5) covers immigration-status threats made to get money, a thing of value, or an act.

Is threatening to report someone to immigration extortion in Colorado?

Section 18-3-207(1.5) makes it criminal extortion to threaten to report a person's immigration status to law enforcement officials, with intent to induce someone against their will to give money or another item of value, or to perform or refrain from a lawful act. It is a class 4 felony.

Is sextortion a crime in Colorado?

Colorado has no offense titled sextortion. Criminal extortion under 18-3-207 includes substantial threats to damage reputation when its other elements are met, and C.R.S. 18-7-107 makes it a class 1 misdemeanor for an adult to threaten, through electronic media or a website, to disclose a private intimate image under the conditions in that statute. C.R.S. 18-7-108 makes it a class 1 misdemeanor for an adult to threaten, through electronic media or a website, to disclose a private intimate image with intent to obtain a pecuniary benefit, such as a demand for payment.