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Jewelry thief who stole from girlfriend’s family in Snowmass Village gets jail, probation

A local man who pleaded guilty to stealing his girlfriend’s mother’s jewelry earlier this year was sentenced Monday to 15 more days in jail and a year and a half of probation.

Chase Compton, 24, admitted Monday to taking the jewelry from the family home in Snowmass Village in April after pleading guilty to misdemeanor theft between $750 and $2,000. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail, though he was given credit for the 30 days he already has already served.

While on probation, Compton must cooperate with a sobriety-monitoring program and remain free of alcohol and drugs, write a letter to the victim of the crime and perform 40 hours of community service, according to District Judge Chris Seldin’s sentence.



Prosecutor Don Nottingham said the District Attorney’s Office main concern is Compton’s drug use. The office earlier revoked Compton’s bond after he declined to participate in a sobriety-monitoring program and a crisis team later found him at his home with a needle in his arm, he said.

Compton’s mother told Seldin on Monday that her son relapsed three days after attending drug rehab, cleaned up after that and then relapsed again.




In April, Compton was staying at his girlfriend’s home when her mother found him in a bathroom rifling through a jewelry box at 4:30 a.m. The woman’s husband confronted Compton and he fled the home.

He later told police he was actually just searching for antacid and thought it would be funny to try on some of the jewelry and take a selfie. Police found some of the jewelry in Compton’s bag and he admitted stealing it, according to court documents.

In April, Compton said he’d been in Aspen for two months living with his mother and planned on working in town.

jauslander@aspentimes.com