James M. Candelaria
US District Court
Honorable James M. Candelaria is a native Coloradoan from Durango located in the southwest part of the state. James graduated from Durango High School and attended Metropolitan State College where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. After undergraduate school, James held a variety of positions from sales, hospitality, construction, and finance. In 1995, James enrolled at the University of Denver College of Law and earned his Juris Doctorate degree in 1997. While in law school, James clerked for the United States Attorneys Office and interned for U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Sparr. After graduation, James accepted a position as a Judicial Law Clerk for Justice Gregory Scott of the Colorado Supreme Court. Upon completion of his clerkship, James transitioned into the private sector working as a junior associate for a medium sized Denver law firm working in commercial litigation. After two years in the private sector, James accepted a position as a civil Assistant United States Attorney in the Denver, Colorado office. After about a year in the Civil Division, a position opened up in the Durango branch office for a criminal AUSA. Seizing on the chance to go “home”, James transferred down from Denver and for the next 17 years worked out of the Durango Office prosecuting all federal crimes with a focus on Indian Country. In 2008, James was selected for an overseas detail to be the Resident Legal Advisor to the Country of Zambia, Africa. While in Africa, James was the highest ranking official for the Department of Justice and was responsible for training Zambian prosecutors and Judges in the prosecution of crimes against women. James also worked with Zambian law makers to revise the Zambian Criminal Code to include a Gender Based Violence Bill which included a provision criminalizing the act of marital rape. In 2010, shortly after James returned to work in the Durango USA Office, the Zambian Parliament passed the Bill. In 2015, James accepted another overseas detail to Kingston, Jamaica again as a Resident Legal Advisor where he was responsible for training Jamaican prosecutors and judges on anti-corruption and money laundering prosecution. While in Jamaica, James drafted memorandums of understanding between the United States Marshal’s Service and the Jamaican Courts regarding the seizing and collection of assets located in Jamaica and subject to U.S. Courts orders and judgments. After a little over year in Kingston, James returned to the USAO Durango where he continued as the Branch Chief until accepting a position on January 1, 2019 with the U.S. Courts as a Federal Magistrate Judge in Durango, Colorado. James is married to his beautiful wife of 28 years (Beth) and has two adult daughters, Rianne and Deryn and one son, Trevor, who is a freshman at Davidson College and the starting centerfielder for the Davidson DI Baseball team.
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