Prison staff performed CPR on disbarred attorney Steve Bachar after he had an apparent medical emergency and became unresponsive in Rifle Correctional Facility where he was serving a three-year sentence for theft, according to the Garfield County Coroner’s Office.
The cause and manner of death for Bachar, who was 58, is pending, but Coroner Robert Glassmire said his death is “most consistent with a natural death.”
First aid was initiated until emergency medical responders arrived, but Bachar died at the prison, Glassmire said. The coroner’s office was called to the prison at 6:43 a.m. Friday and an autopsy was performed later in the day.
His cause of death will be determined pending toxicology results, Glassmire said.
The Department of Corrections confirmed Bachar’s death Friday, but it declined to release further information. The department will investigate his death, “as is the normal course of action,” spokesperson Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia said.
Bachar pleaded guilty in September to felony theft for defrauding an investor of $125,000. He would have been eligible for parole in February, CDOC records show. His mandatory release date was Aug. 9, 2026.
He told a judge that he had ongoing health problems during his sentencing hearing in November, according to The Denver Post.