Posted on 04/17/2006 11:26:00 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
case
LOS ANGELES (AP) A Swedish businessman involved in the high-speed crash of a rare Ferrari on a coastal highway pleaded not guilty Monday to embezzlement and other charges in the alleged theft of a collection of exotic cars.
Bo Stefan M. Eriksson, 44, did not speak during the hearing. The plea was entered on his behalf by his attorney, David Elden, as Eriksson listened from behind a glass barrier.
Judge Mary Strobel set a bail review hearing for April 24.
Deputy District Attorney Tamara Hall said bail had been set at $5.5 million to include the $3.8 million cost of the cars and because Eriksson was considered a flight risk after authorities found an airline ticket for an April 10 flight to the United Kingdom.
Hall also told the judge that Eriksson should be held because he did not cooperate with Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators and made ``untrue statements'' to immigration officials.
Outside court, Elden said his client was not a flight risk because he owned a home and business in the Los Angeles area.
Eriksson's other attorney, Andrew Flier, called the bail amount ``outrageous'' far exceeding the $1 million bail for clients he is defending in murder cases.
``This is a traffic collision that has turned into a major criminal case because of the value of the Ferrari,'' Flier said.
Eriksson was charged with embezzlement, grand theft and possession of a gun by a felon. He also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of drunken driving.
Eriksson, a former executive with the European video game company Gizmondo, imported two Enzo Ferraris and a rare Mercedes McLaren SLR worth an estimated $3.8 million, prosecutors said.
The cars were owned by British financial institutions and leased to Eriksson, Deputy District Attorney Steven Sowders said in a statement. The lease agreement did not allow Eriksson to take the cars out of Great Britain, Sowders said.
Authorities contend Eriksson, arrested in early April, was behind the wheel of an Enzo Ferrari one of only 400 made when it wrecked Feb. 21 on Pacific Coast Highway in west Malibu. The car crashed into a pole at 162 mph, totaling the $1 million vehicle.
Eriksson told police he was only a passenger in the car and that the driver was a German acquaintance he knew only as Dietrich. He said Dietrich ran into the hills, but a search by deputies turned up no one.
Detectives questioned Eriksson's story, noting that only the driver's side air bag had blood on it and Eriksson had a cut lip.
During a search of Eriksson's house in Bel-Air, authorities said they discovered a handgun. Prosecutors said the weapons charge stemmed from a counterfeiting conviction against Eriksson in Sweden in the early '90s.
If convicted on all counts, Eriksson could be sentenced to as many as 14 years in state prison.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also placed a hold on him and that had not been lifted, authorities said Monday.
In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors.
Hopefully you didn't flame yourself then.
; )
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.