YOUR AD HERE »

‘Of course’ Snowmass man is guilty of coke possession

Jason Auslander
The Aspen Times

A man who police say told them he “of course” had cocaine in his nostrils because “it’s Aspen” pleaded guilty Monday to drug possession.

Eliphalet Ford, 34, of Snowmass Village, will receive a two-year deferred sentence in exchange for the guilty plea to possession of cocaine, meaning the felony charge will be wiped from his record if he stays out of trouble for two years. Ford also pleaded guilty to obstructing a police officer.

Two Aspen police officers discovered Ford chopping lines of cocaine on a stone bench across from Little Annie’s Eating House at about 2:10 a.m. Oct. 5, according to court documents. The officers saw two credit cards on the bench dusted with a white, powdery substance as well as a line of white powder near Ford’s leg that he brushed to the ground when officers asked about it.



An officer shined his flashlight up Ford’s nose, noticed a white substance and said he believed it was cocaine, according to an arrest warrant filed in district court.

“Of course I have cocaine up my nose,” the officer said Ford told him. “It’s Aspen.”




In other court news, a 37-year-old Aspen bookkeeper pleaded guilty to felony theft Monday for embezzling nearly $27,000 from her former employer.

Lindsay Lundberg could have faced between two and six years in prison for the crime, though the prosecution agreed to recommend only probation so she could pay back the money, said Deputy District Attorney Anne Norrdin.

Lundberg’s former employer, a Sotheby’s property broker, called police in July and reported that Lundberg paid herself four times in May, nine times in June and once in July, just four days after the final June payment, according to an arrest warrant. The total amount of those payments was $20,730.

The broker texted Lundberg at the time asking her why she paid herself so many times, the warrant states. Lundberg texted back that she didn’t have a good explanation for her behavior.

“I don’t know why I thought this was OK,” she texted him, according to the warrant.

Norrdin said Monday that she would have a concrete amount that must be paid back at Lundberg’s sentencing in January, though the amount is “almost $27,000.”

District Judge Chris Seldin asked Lundberg on Monday what she did to earn the felony charge against her.

“I took funds from my employer without authorization,” she said.

jauslander@aspentimes.com