Domingo Grillasca Batistini’s allegedly self-purported connection to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel may well be untruthful, his defense attorney argued Wednesday afternoon in district court.

However, Grillasca Batistini’s $20,000 cash or surety bond remained unchanged after he was arraigned in Judge Brittany Schneider’s virtual courtroom. The Steamboat Springs-residing 37-year-old, who is alleged to have committed multiple assaults in Craig, is likely to remain in custody in Moffat County Jail. His attorney said that the defendant could not afford to post bond.

Defense argued — without counter by prosecution — that not only were the supposed cartel connections likely empty threats at most, the warrants from Puerto Rico from 2005 reported by Craig Police in the warrantless arrest affidavit filed Dec. 15 may also not exist. The affidavit, filed by Craig Police Dec. 15, mentions two charges, including one of homicide, in the U.S. Territory, but deputies at Moffat County Jail confirmed that the defendant had no outstanding holds on him from anything of that nature.

Grillasca Batistini, his defense attorney noted, is a U.S. citizen who lives and works in Steamboat Springs. Defense pointed out a lack of documented criminal history outside of recent events as evidence that the cartel connection was unlikely to be real.

Prosecution, in countering the defense’s request for a reduced bond to $1,000 cash or surety, disputed that the supposed Puerto Rico charges were part of the previous argument made at the time bond was set, and Schneider agreed.

The judge, citing lines from allegations recorded in the affidavit that included the defendant allegedly claiming to have a history of torturing people and a propensity to, in so doing, “take (their) soul from (their) body,” expressed concern for public safety and that of the alleged victim.

“I have a serious public safety concern here,” Schneider said, adding that, in another outstanding case against Grillasca Batistini, it appeared by the public defenders motion to withdraw from his case that the defendant was not participating actively in his own ongoing court proceedings. “That has not been assuaged by the idea of adding testing or a protection order. I am declining to modify bond at this time.”

The other case involved a DUI arrest in which, according to Colorado State Patrol, as relayed through the prosecution Wednesday, the CSP trooper had “never been more scared in his life.” In that law enforcement interaction, Grillasca Batistini allegedly kicked out the window of the vehicle in which he had been detained and spit on the trooper making the arrest.

Grillasca Batistini will next appear in court Jan. 6 at 1:30 p.m., at which point the court will address both outstanding cases against him.