NEW YORK – An Italian man pleaded responsible on Friday in New York to a cost he impersonated editors and brokers with a purpose to steal unpublished e book manuscripts of authors like Margaret Atwood and the actor Ethan Hawke, and declare the works as his personal.
Filippo Bernardini, who had labored at Simon & Schuster in London, entered his plea to 1 depend of wire fraud earlier than US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in federal court docket in Manhattan, the defendant’s lawyer stated.
Bernardini might face 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 years in jail underneath beneficial sentencing tips at his scheduled April 5 sentencing earlier than one other choose.
Prosecutors stated Bernardini, who had been a Simon & Schuster rights coordinator, had since 2016 created faux electronic mail addresses and registered greater than 160 bogus domains to impersonate publishing professionals and masks his identification.
They stated Bernardini would usually change a decrease case “m” with an “rn,” in order that “simonandschuster” may seem as “sirnonandschuster,” for instance.
Prosecutors stated the defendant additionally obtained an unpublished manuscript from a Pulitzer Prize-winning creator by impersonating a widely known Simon & Schuster editor.
Hannah McCrea, the federal public defender representing Bernardini, declined to touch upon the plea.
The defendant had pleaded not responsible to wire fraud and an aggravated identification theft cost one yr in the past, following his arrest upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Simon & Schuster was not accused of wrongdoing. The writer didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Bernardini’s plea.
The case is US vs. Bernardini, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-cr-00458. — Reuters
