Hearing reset in theft case

KEITH KINNAIRD

News editor

SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing has been postponed again in the case against an Oldtown man accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his former employer.

The hearing to determine if there’s enough evidence to bind Jasen W. Johnson over to stand trial in 1st District Court has been reset for March.

It’s the seventh time the hearing has been postponed because of scheduling conflicts, changes in defense counsel, plea negotiations and a broadening criminal complaint.

Johnson, a former manager at Family Foods in Oldtown, siphoned more than $439,000 from the grocery store from early 2002 to the spring of 2009, according to charging papers.

Court documents allege that Johnson committed the thefts by entering phony merchandise returns into the store’s computer system and pocketed the cash. Johnson allegedly covered up the scheme by blending the returns into the flow of register transactions during the store’s busiest shopping times.

Johnson is charged with grand theft. He is also being sued by the store’s operators for embezzlement and hampering the growth of their business. The civil complaint alleges Johnson, a 21-year employee, embezzled more than $450,000 since the late 1990s.

Johnson is free on his own recognizance while the criminal case is pending.