Ex-Orem worker charged in theft

OREM — Michael Lynn Johnson, 43, Orem, a longtime Orem city employee and the former director of the Orem Fitness Center, has been charged with one count of theft, a second-degree felony.

Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson filed the charge Monday in 4th District Court for thefts that allegedly occurred between January 1998 and December 2004.

Johnson reportedly told a supervisor on Nov. 28, 2005, he had been taking money from city coffers.

Johnson estimated the missing money came to about $45,000 but investigators determined the amount was much higher.

He resigned the next day and Johnson has since repaid the city $215,000, according to Orem City Attorney Paul Johnson.

A hearing is scheduled April 29 at 8:30 a.m.