09-25-25 Interview - Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams - Ephraim Debisa is Back Behind Bars... For Now
September 25, 2025 • 9 mins
EPHRAIM DEBISA IS BACK BEHIND BARS...FOR NOW The man who has become the face of the garbage criminal justice reform bill passed by Democrats is back behind bars after showing up on University of Northern Colorado residential apartments waving a gun. Ephraim Ebisa has been arrested numerous times for violent crimes but he keeps getting let out because he's been found incompetent to stand trial. This is a Colorado created problem, as Robert Dear, the man who murdered several people and wounded more in an attack on a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood over a DECADE ago, is STILL in prison awaiting trial on federal charges. So how long with Debisa be behind bars this time? Surely he didn't just get mentally well since his last arrest. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams, who sounded the alarm about this guy, joins me at 12:30 to discuss it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A story that featured Sheriff Steve Dreams from Weld County
expressing his displeasure about the fact that his office had
to release a man who's proven himself to be dangerous. Well,
that man is back in jail. We don't know how long,
but I've got Sheriff Steve Riams with me now to
talk about it. Sheriff, first of all, thanks for making
time today.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hebette, thanks for bringing this an issue to attention. Mandy.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
So, my first question, and just as a reminder for
my audience from Divisa, is the man's name. If you
could tell me how you encountered or have encountered mister
de Visa in the past and what inspired you to
sort of make this public. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Sure, Well, he's a twenty one year old individual that
lives in the Weld County area can really specifically most
of the time. He's a Tanzania national. He's a refugee
in this country. I believe he's been here for six
or seven years, maybe even longer. My interaction with him
is because he's been repeatd brought to the Weld County
(01:02):
jail from numerous police agencies, and I believe he's been
arrested as of yesterday, eleven times on some very serious charges.
But his last arrest was the most significant one, and
that was for attempted second degree murder. And my interaction
with that case was because I was I'm friends with
the victim's family, and so the victim in that particular incident,
(01:26):
you know, he was beaten very severely by by this individual,
and all the beating incident was filmed or videoed by
Debisa's friends, and so that video got posted to social media.
The victim in that incident, his family shared that video
with me and said, you got to help us. You know,
(01:48):
this guy's likely to be released because he's been found
incompetent to stand trial, and this just seems like a
travesty of justice. And I agree with him, and so
I definitely leaned into that situation and tried to figure
out every possible scenario to keep this person from being
released from my facility. And unfortunately, the lodge just tied
(02:09):
my hands and we were forced to release him. This
a little over two weeks ago, but he was re
arrested yesterday on new criminal charges.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Who could have guessed, So let's go back to that release.
The last time. Governor Jared Polis released a rather snarky
and terse tweet about it, saying, well, there's other laws
in Colorado they could have used to commit him to
a facility or something along those lines. Did you look
at every other opportunity to get this guy off the streets?
(02:37):
And if you did, why did that not work?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, it might surprise you to hear this, but the
governor was just dead wrong. He made an assumption that
my county attorney and the district attorney up here had
not done their jobs in trying to figure out if
there was a different way that this person could be
handled other than released to the street. But that would
have required some on a mental health commitment. And you know,
(03:03):
right or wrong, this person does not have an underlying
mental health issue. Competency and mental health aren't necessarily tied together.
Sometimes they are. In this individual's case, his lack of
competency has nothing to do with an underlying mental illness.
So the governor was trying to point to provisions in
the statutes that allow for mental health holds to be
(03:24):
placed and whatnot, but they're just not applicable with this guy.
He's just geared wrong. I believe he has an evil
mind and he has no intention of following the law.
But does he have an underlying mental health a diagnosed
mental health issue. No, he's not been on a mental
health plan at all while he's been in my facility,
and he probably won't be this time either.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So wait a minute, how has he been declared unable
to stand trial if he doesn't have any diagnosed or
diagnosable mental conditions. I'm confused by that.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Well, you and me both. Basically what it comes down
to is my understanding is he does not have the
cognitive ability and I say that in their quotes to
understand the gravity of his actions or the legal or
the criminal justice system as it pertains to those things.
I think it's a ruse. I think it's a game.
(04:17):
I just I think this guy is just flippant towards
towards any consequences. And because of that, you know, he's
likely he comes off to these professional persons that do
his evaluation as someone who's just you know, is incapable
of understanding the severity of what they're doing. Regardless even
(04:38):
if they're correct. If that is the case, it still
shows another giant hole in our criminal justice system, because
if he's if he's incapable of understanding the severity of
what he's done, then he's probably incapable of functioning in
society in a way that's not dangerous to folks. But again,
our laws, for lack of better terms, they sucker right
(05:00):
now when it deals with when you're dealing with criminals
and the laws are tilted to their side, and this
guy's taking firm advantage of it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So let me ask this, though he's a refugee, what
about his immigration status, is there any opportunity you know,
And I realize you cannot coordinate with ICE because of
the stupid laws in Colorado, but I mean, would that
be an opportunity for ICE to maybe if they're listening,
to just go, hey, this guy's in jail right now,
maybe we need to check this out.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, So you know, we've had some i'll just say
hypothetical questions of ICE. And my understanding is that unless
he's unless this individual is charged and convicted of a
serious of a violent crime or a felony, then his
refugee status cannot be revoked. Well, obviously he's not getting
(05:49):
convicted of any of these cases because he's being found
and competent to stand trial. So I pushed this as
far as I can, all the way up to hopefully
Tom Holman's desk to see if there's a different viewpoint
that can be taken with this individual. But you know,
we're also exploring if if federal charges might apply, especially
in this most recent case, because of having a firearm
(06:12):
on a college campus, and so if that's the avenue
to get him out of a criminal justice system that
is not as broken as Colorado's, then maybe that's the
way that we finally could get a conviction on him
and get him deported from the United States. But he
doesn't deserve to be here. He doesn't he doesn't add
any value to the United States or to this this
(06:35):
state specifically, because all he does is victimize people. He's
he's a criminal opportunist.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
He's a predator.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
He's a predator. Yeah, that's a that's a great way
to put it. And he's taken advantage of the citizens
in Well County and specifically in the city of Greeley,
and he creates fear and discontent pretty much wherever he goes.
From what I can tell you.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Know, basically what you just told me about him, being
declared incompetent. It seems that he's he's in you know,
I remember Vinnie the chin Jagante. You remember him walking
around in his bathrobe to prove to prosecutors in New
York that he was crazy. That was his whole stick,
Like he was just going to prove this. To me,
seems like this guy has figured out if he just
acts like he cannot follow along and does not understand
(07:17):
the process, he's going to keep getting out. And is
that what's going to happen this time?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, that's very likely what could happen in this particular case.
I'm hoping that with enough attention on this case, we
get a professional person, qualified person that puts way more
effort into determining competency with this individual. I don't know
that that's probably a pie in the sky dream there,
but ultimately I think you hit the nail on the head.
He knows, you know, he's he's been trained through the
(07:45):
system that if he's just you know, if he just
doesn't care about the consequences the null demi men competent,
he'll get released and he can go back to doing
whatever he wants to do. The interesting thing is, oftentimes
when he commits one of these acts, he has a
crowd around him where he has, you know, a friend
with him who's filming this stuff or taking pictures of him,
(08:05):
and so that he can turn around and post it
on social media as friends can. In fact, the attempted
second degree murder was all on video that was posted
to social media. I was given that video from the
victim's family that's publicly available. It was so that to
me does not speak of someone who doesn't understand their actions.
(08:27):
I just the system's broken, and I've called on Governor
Polus with every one of these these reports to call
a special session and fix this. If nothing else, just
repeal House Built twenty four ten thirty four. That's the
law that they change that really sped this process up
and created this bigger hole in the system than it
(08:49):
ever been. So let's just start by repealing that. I mean,
they don't have to fix everything at once, but just
undo what you've broken. And it's been crickets.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Well, that's because to admit that they have made crime
too easy and too available and too soft in Colorado
would be to admit that all of their efforts at
criminal justice reform have done nothing but in bolden criminals.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
But that's just me.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Share Steve Dreams from Welld County. I appreciate your time today, man.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
You bet many. Thank you for having me on now,
thanks for
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Making the time that is Steve Dreams
A story that featured Sheriff Steve Dreams from Weld County
expressing his displeasure about the fact that his office had
to release a man who's proven himself to be dangerous. Well,
that man is back in jail. We don't know how long,
but I've got Sheriff Steve Riams with me now to
talk about it. Sheriff, first of all, thanks for making
time today.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hebette, thanks for bringing this an issue to attention. Mandy.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
So, my first question, and just as a reminder for
my audience from Divisa, is the man's name. If you
could tell me how you encountered or have encountered mister
de Visa in the past and what inspired you to
sort of make this public. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Sure, Well, he's a twenty one year old individual that
lives in the Weld County area can really specifically most
of the time. He's a Tanzania national. He's a refugee
in this country. I believe he's been here for six
or seven years, maybe even longer. My interaction with him
is because he's been repeatd brought to the Weld County
(01:02):
jail from numerous police agencies, and I believe he's been
arrested as of yesterday, eleven times on some very serious charges.
But his last arrest was the most significant one, and
that was for attempted second degree murder. And my interaction
with that case was because I was I'm friends with
the victim's family, and so the victim in that particular incident,
(01:26):
you know, he was beaten very severely by by this individual,
and all the beating incident was filmed or videoed by
Debisa's friends, and so that video got posted to social media.
The victim in that incident, his family shared that video
with me and said, you got to help us. You know,
(01:48):
this guy's likely to be released because he's been found
incompetent to stand trial, and this just seems like a
travesty of justice. And I agree with him, and so
I definitely leaned into that situation and tried to figure
out every possible scenario to keep this person from being
released from my facility. And unfortunately, the lodge just tied
(02:09):
my hands and we were forced to release him. This
a little over two weeks ago, but he was re
arrested yesterday on new criminal charges.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Who could have guessed, So let's go back to that release.
The last time. Governor Jared Polis released a rather snarky
and terse tweet about it, saying, well, there's other laws
in Colorado they could have used to commit him to
a facility or something along those lines. Did you look
at every other opportunity to get this guy off the streets?
(02:37):
And if you did, why did that not work?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, it might surprise you to hear this, but the
governor was just dead wrong. He made an assumption that
my county attorney and the district attorney up here had
not done their jobs in trying to figure out if
there was a different way that this person could be
handled other than released to the street. But that would
have required some on a mental health commitment. And you know,
(03:03):
right or wrong, this person does not have an underlying
mental health issue. Competency and mental health aren't necessarily tied together.
Sometimes they are. In this individual's case, his lack of
competency has nothing to do with an underlying mental illness.
So the governor was trying to point to provisions in
the statutes that allow for mental health holds to be
(03:24):
placed and whatnot, but they're just not applicable with this guy.
He's just geared wrong. I believe he has an evil
mind and he has no intention of following the law.
But does he have an underlying mental health a diagnosed
mental health issue. No, he's not been on a mental
health plan at all while he's been in my facility,
and he probably won't be this time either.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So wait a minute, how has he been declared unable
to stand trial if he doesn't have any diagnosed or
diagnosable mental conditions. I'm confused by that.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Well, you and me both. Basically what it comes down
to is my understanding is he does not have the
cognitive ability and I say that in their quotes to
understand the gravity of his actions or the legal or
the criminal justice system as it pertains to those things.
I think it's a ruse. I think it's a game.
(04:17):
I just I think this guy is just flippant towards
towards any consequences. And because of that, you know, he's
likely he comes off to these professional persons that do
his evaluation as someone who's just you know, is incapable
of understanding the severity of what they're doing. Regardless even
(04:38):
if they're correct. If that is the case, it still
shows another giant hole in our criminal justice system, because
if he's if he's incapable of understanding the severity of
what he's done, then he's probably incapable of functioning in
society in a way that's not dangerous to folks. But again,
our laws, for lack of better terms, they sucker right
(05:00):
now when it deals with when you're dealing with criminals
and the laws are tilted to their side, and this
guy's taking firm advantage of it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So let me ask this, though he's a refugee, what
about his immigration status, is there any opportunity you know,
And I realize you cannot coordinate with ICE because of
the stupid laws in Colorado, but I mean, would that
be an opportunity for ICE to maybe if they're listening,
to just go, hey, this guy's in jail right now,
maybe we need to check this out.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, So you know, we've had some i'll just say
hypothetical questions of ICE. And my understanding is that unless
he's unless this individual is charged and convicted of a
serious of a violent crime or a felony, then his
refugee status cannot be revoked. Well, obviously he's not getting
(05:49):
convicted of any of these cases because he's being found
and competent to stand trial. So I pushed this as
far as I can, all the way up to hopefully
Tom Holman's desk to see if there's a different viewpoint
that can be taken with this individual. But you know,
we're also exploring if if federal charges might apply, especially
in this most recent case, because of having a firearm
(06:12):
on a college campus, and so if that's the avenue
to get him out of a criminal justice system that
is not as broken as Colorado's, then maybe that's the
way that we finally could get a conviction on him
and get him deported from the United States. But he
doesn't deserve to be here. He doesn't he doesn't add
any value to the United States or to this this
(06:35):
state specifically, because all he does is victimize people. He's
he's a criminal opportunist.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
He's a predator.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
He's a predator. Yeah, that's a that's a great way
to put it. And he's taken advantage of the citizens
in Well County and specifically in the city of Greeley,
and he creates fear and discontent pretty much wherever he goes.
From what I can tell you.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Know, basically what you just told me about him, being
declared incompetent. It seems that he's he's in you know,
I remember Vinnie the chin Jagante. You remember him walking
around in his bathrobe to prove to prosecutors in New
York that he was crazy. That was his whole stick,
Like he was just going to prove this. To me,
seems like this guy has figured out if he just
acts like he cannot follow along and does not understand
(07:17):
the process, he's going to keep getting out. And is
that what's going to happen this time?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, that's very likely what could happen in this particular case.
I'm hoping that with enough attention on this case, we
get a professional person, qualified person that puts way more
effort into determining competency with this individual. I don't know
that that's probably a pie in the sky dream there,
but ultimately I think you hit the nail on the head.
He knows, you know, he's he's been trained through the
(07:45):
system that if he's just you know, if he just
doesn't care about the consequences the null demi men competent,
he'll get released and he can go back to doing
whatever he wants to do. The interesting thing is, oftentimes
when he commits one of these acts, he has a
crowd around him where he has, you know, a friend
with him who's filming this stuff or taking pictures of him,
(08:05):
and so that he can turn around and post it
on social media as friends can. In fact, the attempted
second degree murder was all on video that was posted
to social media. I was given that video from the
victim's family that's publicly available. It was so that to
me does not speak of someone who doesn't understand their actions.
(08:27):
I just the system's broken, and I've called on Governor
Polus with every one of these these reports to call
a special session and fix this. If nothing else, just
repeal House Built twenty four ten thirty four. That's the
law that they change that really sped this process up
and created this bigger hole in the system than it
(08:49):
ever been. So let's just start by repealing that. I mean,
they don't have to fix everything at once, but just
undo what you've broken. And it's been crickets.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Well, that's because to admit that they have made crime
too easy and too available and too soft in Colorado
would be to admit that all of their efforts at
criminal justice reform have done nothing but in bolden criminals.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
But that's just me.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Share Steve Dreams from Welld County. I appreciate your time today, man.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
You bet many. Thank you for having me on now,
thanks for
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Making the time that is Steve Dreams
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