/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/B4PMN6L3JVIAXKKYQZJSSXUL5Y.jpg?w=1068&resize=1068,0&ssl=1 "Italian man accused of stealing unpublished books pleads guilty in New York")
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/B4PMN6L3JVIAXKKYQZJSSXUL5Y.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1&description=Italian+man+accused+of+stealing+unpublished+books+pleads+guilty+in+New+York){kind=link}
NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) – An Italian man pleaded guilty on Friday in New York to impersonating editors and brokers in order to steal greater than 1,000 unpublished guide manuscripts belonging to authors like Margaret Atwood and the actor Ethan Hawke.
Filippo Bernardini, 30, a London resident who had been employed there by Simon & Schuster, entered his plea to 1 depend of wire fraud earlier than U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in federal court docket in Manhattan.
Bernardini might face 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 years in jail below really useful sentencing tips at his scheduled April 5 sentencing earlier than one other decide, his lawyer Hannah McCrea mentioned.
Prosecutors mentioned that from August 2016 till his January 2022 arrest, Bernardini created faux e mail addresses and registered greater than 160 bogus domains to impersonate publishing professionals, in an effort to assert authors’ works as his personal.
They mentioned the previous Simon & Schuster rights coordinator would typically change a decrease case “m” with an “rn,” in order that “simonandschuster” may seem as “sirnonandschuster,” for instance.
The greater than 1,000 stolen manuscripts included a piece by a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, prosecutors mentioned.
“Filippo Bernardini used his insider knowledge of the publishing industry to create a scheme that stole precious works from authors and menaced the publishing industry,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan mentioned in a press release.
McCrea, a federal public defender, declined to touch upon the plea.
Bernardini had pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and an aggravated id theft cost, following his arrest upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Simon & Schuster was not accused of wrongdoing.
“Protection of authors’ intellectual property is of the highest priority for Simon & Schuster,” the writer mentioned in a press release expressing gratitude for authorities’ assist.
The case is U.S. v. Bernardini, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-cr-00458.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.