When Aspen open space rangers, along with a police officer, visited the shack after its discovery by some local workers who had had some tools stolen, Hogue was at home, but he escaped through a back window and fled. The rangers and the cop peered into the window of the shack, which they could not access without a warrant, even though it was located on public property. What they saw amazed them. The shack was filled to brimming with high-end outdoor gear and clothing.
Over the course of a week, it was disassembled by open space rangers. Not long thereafter, following a series of thefts from proximate construction sites, Hogue was arrested. His vehicle, a green Nissan Xterra, which had been illegally parked in an employees-only Aspen Skiing Co. The name-brand items, many of which still had price tags attached, were returned to the stores from which they had been heisted.
The Xterra, filled with 18 duffel bags containing clothing, bike gear, camera gear and a couple laptops, was taken to the police impound lot near the county landfill. In September , a month before his 26th birthday, he had enrolled in Palo Alto High School in California and passed himself off as a year-old endurance runner. A few years later, after having invented a convoluted backstory, Hogue fraudulently enrolled in Princeton University and ran track for the Tigers after having been given a full-ride scholarship.
He was outed at a track meet by someone who had been his classmate at Palo Alto High School. His impersonations resulted in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, as well as a book and an HBO documentary. The life of Hogue, who had once run a subminute mile, had been defined by criminal activity, arrests and incarceration.
He had gone to prison in Utah for the theft of bike parts and tools. He also had arrests in Aspen — in for stealing food and Rogaine from a grocery store and in for bicycle theft. Add to that an arrest for grand larceny in Telluride, where Hogue lived for a short time in the mids. As a result, Seldin sentenced Hogue to six years in prison, despite a plea agreement that called for a three-year sentence. It could have been worse. Hogue could have been sentenced to as long as 18 years as a habitual offender.
Shortly after signing on to write the story for Aspen Sojourner, I made an effort to visit Hogue in the Aspen jail. I had been forewarned that he was very standoffish and did not countenance interaction with members of the media. I wrote him a note introducing myself and outlining my intent. I dropped the package off at jail, expecting no reply. Much to my surprise, however, a week later, Hogue called and agreed to meet with the unambiguous stipulation that I not interview him.
He would be willing to talk, but not to be grilled. This marked my virgin experience visiting someone behind bars. It was awkward on several levels, not the least of which being that we had to talk over phones with a pane of glass between us.
I visited Hogue in the county jail a total of six times for one hour each. The first four of those visits occurred before he was sentenced; the last two occurred after Seldin had ruled but before Hogue was shipped out.
During the first four visits, our conversation rambled. We talked about books, hiking, traveling, linguistics, the sociology of the Roaring Fork Valley and life in the local jail. For the most part, though, Hogue looked me in the eye when we talked. This was something of a surprise, as almost everything I had read and heard about him indicated that he rarely made eye contact while conversing, even with people he knew well.
Maybe I was reading too much into that one personality trait, but it seemed that staring me straight in the viewpods while we conversed was a sign he felt comfortable with me. Was it harmless? I laugh. I smile about it. As a student attending Paly while Hogue was there, Moss questioned why any year-old would pass themselves off as an orphaned teen. Photo by Alicia Mies. He said that he was an orphan. He was intelligent. He seemed to demand our sympathies.
Why question him? That accounts for his success in part, that he was able to present himself and present his story in ways that we believed. But, in some ways, Moss was disappointed. The founder of his own law firm and the co-host of a talk show with professional wrestler Shawn Michaels, Mark lives a high-profile life in the small city of Mission, Kansas.
It was in the small Southern town of Mission where Hogue and Mark became friends. They met in middle school when they ran cross-country together. Never in any trouble. Trained all the time. Had a tremendous gift to run. He had big time talent is what he had. But, when we were in high school, he was very much an individualist and he did not like to be told what to do.
But, he deeply regrets his decision to let Hogue train on his own. Hogue remained in Palo Alto for another three months, until he was arrested for forging a check to buy contact lenses. He was not charged, on condition that he repay the shopkeeper he cheated.
Instead, he skipped town. For the next two years, he led a nomadic life, staying with friends in several western states. He worked summers as instructor at a cross-training clinic in Vail, Colorado, posing as Dr. James Hogue, Stanford Ph. After an acquaintance from his Austin days fingered him in June , he moved on to San Diego and stayed with David Tesch, a maker of mountain-bike frames.
Police finally caught up with Hogue in Utah in March They discovered much of the stolen property in a large storage locker he had rented. Police also found burglary tools, track trophies he had won in local high-school races, a pile of empty Rolex watch cases, and evidence that Hogue was corresponding with East Coast universities under the name Alexi Santana. The police never notified the universities, but at least one other—Brown—acknowledges having admitted him.
Hogue was not taken to jail and, instead, issued a summons for trespassing and tampering, which are low-level offenses. Aspen police continue to investigate the burglary, which took place inside the parking garage of an apartment building in the block of East Cooper Avenue, Tracey said. Hogue — who has a history in Aspen dating back to the lates when he was arrested twice for minor theft — was most recently arrested here in November after police caught him living in the Aspen Mountain shack.
In March , Hogue appeared in Pitkin County District Court and pleaded guilty to felony theft , felony possession of burglary tools and a misdemeanor charge. District Judge Chris Seldin sentenced him to six years in prison, which was on the high end of the possible sentence he faced, because he was a lifelong thief and unlikely to be rehabilitated. Despite the six-year sentence, Hogue was paroled Feb. Jeff Fain, a former Aspen police detective who investigated Hogue in , said Hogue has been living in Aspen since he was released from prison.
Fain, now a detective with the Glenwood Springs Police Department, said he knows that because he saw him walking down the street in and checked up on the situation.
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