Bernardini avoids prison over manuscript thefts

Former Simon & Schuster staffer Filippo Bernardini has avoided prison following his guilty plea to one count of wire fraud related to his years of stealing pre-publication manuscripts.

Judge Colleen McMahon sentenced Bernardini to time served on Thursday 23rd March. He had already agreed to pay restitution of $88,000 (£72,700) to Penguin Random House, to reimburse the company for legal and expert fees it paid as a result of the scheme. His sentence includes three years of supervised release, though he is also ordered to be deported to the UK or Italy.

In court papers published earlier this month Bernardini apologised for his crime but claimed he did it so he could dive into the stories before they were available to the general public.  

“I never leaked these manuscripts. I wanted to keep them closely to my chest and be one of the fewest to cherish them before anyone else, before they ended up in bookshops,” he wrote.

“There were times where I read the manuscripts and I felt a special and unique connection with the author, almost like I was the editor of that book,” he added.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had asked that Bernardini receive a prison term of at least one year. The charge carried a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

“His impersonation and theft caused real reputational, emotional and financial harm to his victims,” the prosecutors wrote in a letter to Judge McMahon. “He continued in this criminal conduct for years, even as his victims confronted him, accusing him of theft and crimes, and even as his scheme attained public notice.”