ASPEN, Colo. – A con man with a decades-long criminal history stretching from California to New Jersey has been sentenced to prison for his latest crimes in Colorado.
James Hogue was arrested in Aspen on Nov. 3, 2016. Police had been searching for Hogue since September, when Aspen Skiing Co. employees reported a man living in an illegal shack on Aspen Mountain. When police tried to confront Hogue, he ran off.
After local newspapers ran Hogue’s photo, a librarian spotted the con man at the Pitkin County Library and officers were able to take him into custody. Police said Hogue gave them a fake name at the time of his arrest.
In Hogue’s car, police found thousands of dollars in cash, brand new ski gear and uncashed checks from GearTrade.com, leading investigators to believe he was selling stolen items online. Investigators said Hogue sold about $70,000 worth of stolen items on eBay.
READ MORE: How police caught long-time con man James Hogue in Aspen
The Aspen Times reports Hogue pleaded guilty in February to a felony theft charge, felony possession of burglary tools and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing police officers.
On Monday, Pitkin County District Judge Chris Seldin sentenced Hogue to six years in prison for the theft charge and three years for the possession charge, the Times reports. Hogue will serve the two prison terms concurrently.
Hogue has a long history of fraud and theft, beginning when he posed as a 17-year-old to enroll at Palo Alto High School in California in 1985. Using another fake identity, Hogue won a track scholarship at Princeton University in New Jersey. He also was arrested several times over the years on various theft charges, with the most recent being in 2007 in Colorado.
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