Industry News
On Tuesday, July 16, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver partially overturned a conviction against David Lesh, the ‘most hated man in the Rockies,’ a controversial social media influencer and owner of outerwear company Virtika. The case originated from a 2020 incident where Lesh posted images of himself snowmobiling in a terrain park at Keystone Resort, Colorado, which was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports The Aspen Times.
Lesh initially pleaded not guilty to the charges. He then fired his attorney in February 2021, opting to represent himself. However, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher ultimately found Lesh guilty in October 2021 of illegally riding a snowmobile at a terrain park in closed Keystone Resort on April 24, 2020, and undertaking an unauthorized commercial venture on national forestland. Lesh’s social media pictures played a part in the conviction.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon Gallagher ruled that Lesh’s social media campaign featuring photos of himself snowmobiling on or pretending to be on public lands constituted a commercial venture.
“The advertisement and marketing campaign with which Defendant embarked, beginning with the Keystone Resort photographs, was one that relied upon social media trolling as a way to stir up controversy and free press while using NFS lands as the location or backdrop.
“Thus, the Court finds that Defendant’s activity while trespassing at the Keystone Resort was commercial in nature and that the activity was on lands encompassed by the regulation and without a special use authorization.”
– U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon Gallagher
Lesh was initially convicted of trespassing and conducting unauthorized work activity on national forest land. The appeals court has now reversed the latter charge, stating that the regulation “does not fairly warn social media users that posting images on the internet could constitute a federal crime with imprisonment up to six months.”
While the trespassing charge was upheld, Lesh’s current legal team, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, sees potential for the case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. They argue that Lesh’s Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial may have been violated, as he was not offered one for either charge.
This case is part of a series of legal troubles for Lesh, who has faced multiple charges related to his activities for the sake of social media attention. In 2019, he was charged with four petty offenses for riding a snowmobile in a closed area of Independence Pass. He also faced criticism for posting images of himself allegedly walking on a log in Hanging Lake and defecating in Maroon Lake, both protected areas in Colorado. In August 2019, he crash-landed his plane into Half Moon Bay off the California Coast, live-streaming the plane sinking and the whole rescue operation. In July 2014, Lesh was arrested and charged with arson following a fire at the Virtika warehouse in Boulder caused during a promotional video filming.
- Related: VIDEO: Former Pro-Skier David Lesh Crashed His Plane into Half Moon Bay Off California on Tuesday
The recent appeals court decision highlights the complex intersection of social media, personal branding, and federal land use regulations. It raises questions about applying outdated rules to modern social media practices and the boundaries of free speech in digital spaces.
