On Monday, April 15, 2019, prominent Aspen couple Derek and Keri Johnson, were charged with stealing over one million dollars from Johnson’s former employer of 17 years, Aspen Skiing Company (ASC)–a felony on par with attempted murder in terms of legal consequences. Along with being charged with burglary, cybercrime and conspiracy–all of which are felonies–the couple is facing up to 24 years in prison, each, according to this Aspen Times Article.
Derek Johnson helped found the D&E Snowboard Shop in Aspen and stayed on as the managing director of retail when ASC purchased the shop in 2001. Johnson also sat on the Aspen City Council from 2009-2013 and even threw his name on the 2013 mayoral ballot. ASC fired Johnson in the wake of the allegations back in December.
According to court documents made public on Monday, the Aspen police were notified on November 9, 2018, of an anonymous tip received by ASC’s HR department stating Johnson was stealing demo skis and selling them through the “sportandski” eBay account. Based on spreadsheets confiscated from Johnson’s home computer, the couple had made $2.15 million in sales from the online resale website between 2010 and 2018. According to the same court documents, police also found over $224,000 worth of skis and boards in a storage unit rented by the Johnsons. To top it all off, Johnson and his wife charged the Aspen Skiing Co. account $42,000 for ski boxes the couple used to send the stolen skis to paying eBay customers for a whopping total of $2.41 million in theft.
In another file titled “timeline” found on Johnson’s personal computer, Johnson reported the eBay account was first started as a way for the D&E Snowboard Shop to sell used inventory and was operated with ASC’s knowledge. After a few years hiatus, Johnson restarted the account without the company’s knowledge and his wife was the only other person involved in the sales of stolen equipment. Company officials have declined to comment on the investigation.
This story was first reported by the Aspen Times. For more on this investigation, click here.
