A Former Aspen city councilman and mayoral candidate Derek Johnson allegedly stole and sold more than $2.4 million worth of skis, snowboards and other goods over his 17 year career as an executive with Aspen Skiing Co.

The Aspen Times reports Derek Johnson, 51, and his wife, Kerri Johnson, 48, were charged Monday with a litany of crimes including theft of more than $1 million, burglary, cybercrime and conspiracy. The Johnsons could be facing as many as 24 years in prison if convicted.

Derek Johnson was fired by Skico in the wake of the theft allegations back in December. He was working delivery driver for an Aspen restaurant at the time of the arrest. Court documents unsealed Monday show that Skico’s security manager informed Aspen police Nov. 9 about an anonymous tip the company’s human resources department had received about Johnson stealing demo skis and reselling on eBay account calledsportandski.”

Spreadsheets found on Johnson’s home computer showed that between 2010 and 2018 he and his wife listed $2.15 million in total sales from the eBay account. Police also found more than $224,000 worth of skis and snowboards in a storage unit rented by the Johnsons. That gear was returned to Skico officials. The couple also billed Skico nearly $42,000 since November 2015 for ski boxes they used to ship the stolen rental skis for their illegal eBay business. That totals up to $2.41 million in alleged theft according to the Johnsons’ arrest warrant affidavits.

Here’s how they allegedly did it per the Aspen Ski Co/Aspen Police joint investigation released in court documents:

“Based on existing evidence, Johnson would take skis from ASC’s inventory and he or his wife would deliver them to a small warehouse in Aspen that they rented.It appears that their practice was to remove any stickers identifying the skis as ASC property, photograph them and post them on eBay for sale by auction. To facilitate delivery of skis to purchasers, the Johnsons used ski boxes that were purchased and paid for by ASC.”

Ballsy move if its true they they billed ski boxes to Skico to sell the stolen gear. The Johnson’s will have their day in court but evidence is stacked and not looking good for the couple.

 

 

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