Derek Johnson, who formerly worked as an executive for well-known American ski company Aspen Skiing Co., received a 6-year prison sentence and $250 000 fine this week. Initial indications pointed to a much more lenient sentence, but the courts decided that Johnson's behaviour deserved a heavier hand. Johnson had spent years siphoning high-end demo skis and reselling them through an illegal eBay company along with his wife, Kerri Johnson, who is also scheduled to receive a sentence next month.
The eBay company was originally sanctioned by the company but was shut down after just a few years on Johnson's own suggestion, after he claimed it was not a moneymaker. Instead of shutting down the platform completely, Johnson and his wife ended up selling more than 13 000 pairs of skis on the platform and keeping all the profits for themselves. From originally reselling retired demo skis, Johnson eventually ended up inflating orders in order to resell new demo skis on the platform as well. In November, Johnson pleaded guilty to a class 3 felony, having stolen between $100 000 and $1 million worth of skis. Estimates of the total stolen value of equipment run around $6 million, with the Johnsons having made about a $2 million profit.
Johnson's salary was in the top 10% in the U.S. and Deputy District Attorney Don Nottingham noted that Johnson had none of the barriers that could prevent him from being a law-abiding citizen. While he worked hard on building his reputation as a pillar of society, most of his former employees are said to have less-than-fond memories of him. Some have even described him as a sociopath, saying he repeatedly abused them emotionally in the course of working together. Johnson has reportedly been "arrogant" and "devoid of remorse" throughout most of the trial as well.
Born and raised in the ski paradise of Vancouver, Canada, I learned to ski before I can remember, balancing precariously on my parents’ skis as they sailed down the hill. I started snowboarding in my teens and am now delighted to be exploring everything Europe’s ski scene has to offer!
