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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061108/us_nm/crime_ferrari_dc
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Swedish former video game executive who made headlines by destroying a $1 million Ferrari in a spectacular crash was sentenced on Tuesday to 3 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzlement and drunken driving charges, prosecutors said.
Under terms of a surprise plea agreement entered days after a jury deadlocked on the charges against him, Bo Stefan Eriksson, 44, also had his multimillion-dollar California mansion seized and was ordered deported from the United States after serving his sentence.
Eriksson's trial for car theft and embezzlement ended in a mistrial last week after the jury split 10-2 for conviction.
The Swede returned to Los Angeles Superior Court and entered a guilty plea to embezzlement and illegal weapon possession charges. In exchange, the theft charges were dropped. Earlier, Eriksson pleaded no contest, the California equivalent of guilty, to drunken driving.
"Justice was served by this plea," Deputy District Attorney Tamara Hall said after the hearing. "This is a fair resolution and is consistent with a majority of jurors who found him guilty on the embezzlement charges."
A lawyer for Eriksson said the plea came about in part because he was concerned about the cost and time involved in another trial.
"Essentially, it was what Stefan wanted to do," defense attorney Jim Parkman said. "Stefan believes he can be successful in the future. He wanted to move on and ultimately be out of jail in a year."
Eriksson, a former executive with the bankrupt video game company Gizmondo Europe, was speeding on Malibu's winding coastal road at 160 mph (250 kph) in February when he smashed his rare Enzo Ferrari into a power pole, slicing it in half.
The crash unraveled a high-flying life of big spending, luxury cars, burned-out businesses and a criminal record for fraud that included five years jail time in Sweden. A month before the crash, Eriksson had declared bankruptcy with debts of $200 million.
Prosecutors said the Ferrari and two other sports cars worth $4 million were imported to California without the agreement of British banks, which leased them to Eriksson.
At his trial last month, defense attorneys conceded Eriksson was behind on car payments, but argued the banks were aware of Eriksson's move to the United States.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles said Eriksson's home, estimated to be worth between $4 million and $5 million, had been seized and would be sold to pay fines and restitution to the banks
