Woman sentenced for framing in impersonation scandal

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The woman who framed a local hairdresser for menacing texts in 2022 was sentenced on Wednesday, July 17.

In November 2022, Lisa Chase was accused of sending hundreds of threatening and offensive messages through a texting app called TextNow to her ex-boyfriend, Landon Ross, and his new girlfriend, Kristin Eaton, making it seem as if Chase was stalking the couple.

In the span of 90 days, from November 2022 to January 2023, Chase was arrested four times, two of which occurred while she was working as a hairdresser, giving someone a haircut.

“It’s pretty awful when you haven’t gone through anything like that, and you have no idea what’s going on,” Chase said previously, describing the confusion and shock she felt during her initial arrest.

Chase said her experience in jail was traumatic. Her third arrest led to spending four nights at the El Paso County Detention Center. She recalls a challenging episode where she had to negotiate food in exchange for Tylenol to alleviate the pain from her sciatica since pain relievers weren’t accessible.

“For everything I went through, it’s awful,” said Chase. “The money, the time, the mental tolls taken on me it has affected my whole life in ways that people don’t even know, and I just don’t ever want it to happen to anyone ever again. I think I’ve been looking for justice for that more than anything.”

In an attempt to prove her innocence, Chase and her boyfriend installed cameras around her home and car between the second and third arrests in 2023 to prove a timeline of what she was doing. Chase even hired San Agustin, a private investigator who drew a 12-page report to reveal the chain of events.

The private investigator conducted a CellBrite extraction on her phone, revealing no evidence linking her to the alleged texts.

In the conclusion of San Agustin’s report, he states, “The complete lack of an investigation and absence of any physical or digital evidence leaves no basis for the charges against Ms. Chase. Seizing Ms. Chase’s mobile devices and serving a search warrant on TextNow would have revealed that Ms. Chase did not send the alleged text messages.”

San Agustin said that the CSPD had “failed miserably” in investigating Chase’s allegations. Her charges were ultimately dropped in December 2023.

Eaton pleaded guilty to three counts of impersonation on May 15. By doing this, she confirmed that she knowingly assumed a false identity to perform an act that subjected another person to criminal penalties.

Eaton was sentenced to 90 days in jail for framing Chase on Wednesday, July 17. She will also have to serve three years of probation.

Chase says Eaton has never apologized for her actions.

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