In Defence of a Manuscript Thief

From an opinion piece arguing for leniency for Filippo Bernardini, who gained widespread attention after his arrest—and subsequent trial—for impersonating literary agents and book publishers.

Your honor, if you’re reading this, please turn the poor guy loose.

There are crimes and there are crimes, and this…isn’t really a crime. Right? A lonely fantasist tricking a handful of agents into leaking manuscripts so that he can feel the illicit thrill of reading them a few months early is as close to a victimless offense as I can imagine.

We didn’t send any bankers to jail after the financial collapse. No Sacklers will serve time for their part in the American opioid epidemic. Surely we can’t condemn this meek Italian bookworm to the depravity of the US prison system? (We really shouldn’t be condemning anyone to the depravity of the US prison system, but that’s an op-ed for another day).

Turn Filippo loose. He’s agreed to a hefty fine ($88,000, or two years’ pre-tax entry-level publishing salary), been threatened by the FBI, held in custody for over a year, and publicly humiliated. That’s enough. Let him diminish and go into the west (Sardinia), where he can sit by the water and read his beloved books in peace…on or after their official publication dates, of course.

Whether the judge actually read this opinion piece may never be known.  What is known is that Bernardini was sentenced on Thursday to time served, thus avoiding prison on a charge that carried up to 20 years in prison.