Enzo guy (Eriksson) gets 3 years

Swede in Ferrari crash gets three years for other charges
POSTED: 8:31 p.m. EST, November 7, 2006

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A Swedish video game entrepreneur who wrecked a rare Ferrari by smashing it into a Malibu power pole at 162 mph was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday after he pleaded no contest to embezzling two other fancy cars and illegally possessing a gun.

Bo Stefan M. Eriksson, 44, entered the pleas four days after a jury deadlocked in his trial, closing a case that gained international notoriety after the spectacular Pacific Coast Highway crash.

Eriksson entered the pleas to two felony charges of embezzlement with the special allegation that the fraud exceeded $500,000. He also pleaded no contest to being a felon in possession of a firearm -- a .357-magnum handgun found in a search of his Bel-Air mansion in March.

He spent five years in a Swedish prison in the 1990s for assault, extortion and other crimes.

"It was a fair resolution," prosecutor Tamara Hall said after the hearing.

"There was a meeting of the minds. That's why there's a settlement," said Alec Rose, one of Eriksson's attorneys.

Two other counts of grand theft auto were dismissed.

Eriksson previously pleaded no contest to a drunk driving charge in connection with the February 21 crash that split in two a rare Ferrari Enzo valued at $1.5 million.

Jim Parkman, Eriksson's lead attorney, said Eriksson was concerned about "the cost and the energy" of a second trial.

The beefy, blond former video game firm executive could have faced more than 11 years in prison had he been convicted. Instead, he could be out of prison in a year because of time served and good behavior, Parkman said. Eriksson has been in jail since his April arrest.

"He wanted to move on with his life. He feels like he could get out and be successful again," Parkman said in a telephone interview after the hearing.

Prosecutors said Eriksson will face deportation after he completes his sentence and will not be allowed to return to the U.S.

His mansion, valued at up to $5.2 million, was seized and will be sold to help pay any restitution and fines, prosecutors said.

 

I don't know what the standard time should be for something like this but I'd say he got off easy.

 

Me too!

 

should've gotten life just for wrecking an enzo

 

Not really, it's just a car (i'm getting ready to be flamed for that)
however his sentence does appear to be a little light

 

He was very lucky most of the other charges were dropped.

He could have easily have seen 15-20 years here in Calif.

He's not done with his legal problems either. California will at the end of his term most likely turn him over to British authorities for their shot at him!

 

I miss the times when he lived here in Uppsala and ran the uppsala mafia. Things were more interesting so to say back then.

I remember when he sunk his 20 foot yacht in the middle of Uppsala City just to piss off the cops. And I also remember his brand new mercedes with the registration plate THC (yes that kind of THC), which he would park illegally in the middle of roads etc without even receiving a ticket.

 

Looks light to me too; I wonder what Art thinks of this???

 

Very lucky boy IMO.

 

Not to be confused w Enzo Dude

 

i don't know. what did he really do? maybe illegally imported his cars? The banks got their cars back and i think he dumped 400k of his own money into them. hopefully the enzo was fully insured. He wasn't exactly hiding from anyone. he couldn't have lived a much higher profile life. they found a gun in his belair mansion? so what. i can't see doing jail time for dodging your car payments. no matter how big they are.

 

This link has a picture of the guy...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061108/us_nm/crime_ferrari_dc

 

he deserves it...

 

Somewhere in this forum you guys can find the whole story. The guy used to run a mafia in Europe, extorsion, beatings, the whole thing. Then, that "entrepreneur" defrauded hundreds of millions from investors in their Gizmodo company. The cars (the Enzo and a McLaren Benz) were leases in the UK; he just stopped paying them and brought them to the US. Do a search for the story, it's worth reading it is like a good novel. After you read it, it becomes obvious that the guy got into an agreement with the authorities here, and sang like a bird to get away with only 3 years.

From what the story reads, a very very smart guy, but at the end, very very dumb, dippping into the moneys invested in his company like they were his. Same for his buddies.

 

http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/gizmondo.html

the article is quite interesting. worth the read.

 

Looks light to me too.

what money can buy.

 

Looks like one of our own Fchatters is a resident of Uppsala Sweden where this now convicted for the 2nd time criminal came from. We appreciate your input Parhamk, thanks! I think this guy was bad news everywhere he went, but it looks like you had first hand or second hand experience with him.

James in Denver

 

No problem

He was on of the main figures in the so called Uppsala Mafia back in the mid 90´s. As somebody wrote some posts above this one, they were notorious for extortions, money laundering, and mainly drug business. One thing I found funny was that my brother was out some weeks ago at a club, and he hooked up with this chick there, and her aunt that she was with at the club had been together with Mr.Eriksson for several years.

 

Lucky for getting a short sentence?
How about lucky for splitting an Enzo in half with a telephone pole at 162 mph and living to tell about it?

 

He wasn't driving.

Dietriech was!!!

 

Thats how I saw it!!!

Exactly...LOL

 

Dietriech!

The guy's got luck going for him. He pulled off a huge investment swindle via a shelf company that should be written into textbooks and *studied* by mutual funds, investment bankers, and VC's.

Rented cars and mortgaged a mansion that went up in value so that the owners will come out whole (save for an insurance company re a wrecked Enzo).

Crashes an Enzo at 162mph and lives to tell about it.

...and will be out of prison in a year...just in time to write a book that will be made into a movie for the whole parade.

 

Yes, he got off reeeeeeeaaal easy!!!!

 

I'm sure he has a large sum of money waiting for him somewhere too. If he got this far, he has to have something already figured out...

 

When I think of a person I really hate, Eriksson is definetely top 10. Italy and EU should ban him from Europe for destroying a precious piece of art.