JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – The Jefferson County Democratic Party has stripped 66-year-old Estelle Carson of her 2012 award for Democrat of the Year following her conviction last week for stealing from a 71-year-old developmentally disabled, partially blind, wheelchair bound woman. . .

. . . Advocates for the developmentally disabled were outraged that the Jefferson County Democrats bestowed an award on Carson with a pending criminal case. They contacted the Jeffco Democrats Jan. 5, 2012, warning them that Carson was under criminal investigation and had already confessed to the crime, according to one advocate for the victim. But three days later the party went ahead and named Carson Democrat of the Year on Jan. 8, saying the criminal investigation and the award needed to be “compartmentalized.”