Carl Erik Rinsch, the Hollywood director of the 2013 Keanu Reeves film “47 Ronin,” was sentenced Monday to two and a half years in federal prison after being convicted of defrauding Netflix of $11 million that was supposed to complete a sci-fi series called “White Horse.”
U.S. District Judge Jay Rakoff in Manhattan handed down the sentence, which included three years of supervised release after Rinsch’s prison term, $11 million in forfeitures and a $700 fine. Rinsch, 48, had faced up to 90 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but, as expected, received a far lighter sentence.
Prosecutors said Netflix had given Rinsch roughly $55 million for the unfinished series, including $11 million he told them he needed to complete production. Instead, according to prosecutors, Rinsch deposited the money into a personal account, invested it and lost half within a couple of months. He then put funds into cryptocurrency and made lavish purchases that included Rolls-Royce cars and mattresses costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Speaking to the court before the sentence was announced, Rinsch apologized and said he accepted responsibility for his crimes.
“Today’s sentence sends a deterrent message: Fraud will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
During his one-week trial in New York, Rinsch took the stand — a rare move for a criminal defendant — and said the situation was a misunderstanding, claiming he believed the money was intended to keep the show going during the pandemic. Several Netflix executives testified that the company had agreed to only one season of the show, which Rinsch failed to deliver.
According to The New York Times, friends and colleagues described Rinsch as increasingly erratic after he signed the Netflix deal. The outlet reported that he believed he could predict lightning strikes and volcanic eruptions and spoke of a “secret transmission mechanism” for COVID-19.
Rinsch was convicted of federal fraud and money laundering for misusing the funds.