Los Angeles – A Swedish businessman who authorities say crashed a rare Ferrari sports car worth $1.5 million on the Pacific Coast Highway pleaded no contest Thursday to drunken driving.
Bo Stefan Eriksson, 44, will be sentenced after his trial on charges of felony grand theft and embezzlement.
Eriksson, 44, is a former executive of the now-bankrupt video game company Gizmondo Europe. Prosecutors contend he was drunk Feb. 21 when he plowed a red Enzo Ferrari into a utility pole at 162 mph.
Authorities originally accused him of stealing the rare vehicle from a British bank, but they dropped those charges this week. He still is charged with stealing two other cars, a black Enzo and a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
Authorities contend Eriksson defrauded British banks that loaned him money to buy the cars. Once he had the cars, Eriksson would take them to the United States and halt payments on the loans, authorities said.
On Monday, Eriksson turned down a plea offer that required him to plead guilty to stealing the Mercedes and the black Enzo. He agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanor drunken driving because “it’s always better to ‘fess up what you’ve done,” said his attorney, James Parkman.
“We want to fight the battle where the battle is,” Parkman said. “It makes no sense to chase windmills and waste the jury’s time and the court’s time.”
A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is equivalent to a guilty plea for sentencing purposes. Eriksson could face up to 11 years in prison if convicted of the felony charges.
