A former employee accused of defrauding the Haymaker Golf Course in Steamboat could have dodged a felony charge if he had stolen just $10 less.

Jeffrey Keeler is accused of defrauding the Haymaker Golf Course of $2,009. Colorado state law considers any amount stolen over $2,000 to be a felony offense. 

According to the arrest affidavit, Routt County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Haymaker Golf Course initially on Sept. 28 following a report that employee Jeffrey Keeler had been caught by the security camera pocketing $45 from the cash register. 

Arrest reports show management at the golf course told responding officers they would review their security footage to see if Keeler had stolen in the past. The investigating officer followed up with management in October and learned they had found several more instances of theft from the video footage. Management estimated the thefts to amount to more than $2,000 taken from the business between May and September 2022.

The affidavit details management giving the investigating officer 73 videos and an Excel spreadsheet documenting incidents by date, time, time of sale, point-of-sale area, amount taken, and a description of the video. This spreadsheet determined that $2,009 was taken, but acknowledged there were some instances where the amount of money taken could not be determined. 

The case was later assigned to a detective on March 1. Keeler was charged with a class 6 felony and had a bond set for $2,000.