Add The New York Post on Google A Hollywood director was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison for stealing $11 million from Netflix – and using the riches to splurge on Rolls-Royces and stays at five-star hotels.
Carl Rinsch, 48, who directed a handful of sci-fi and action films, received a sentencing just half the length of the prosecution’s recommended jail time after the judge appeared to be swayed by star-studded testimony from character witnesses including actor Keanu Reeves.
Judge Jed Rakoff of Federal District Court in Manhattan ordered Rinsch to repay Netflix the $11 million he was convicted in December of stealing from the streaming giant, as well as to participate in an outpatient mental health program and halt his narcotics use.
In a letter, Reeves – known for his roles in “The Matrix” and the “John Wick” franchise – defended his friend Rinsch, whom he met on the set of the 2013 samurai flick “47 Ronin.”
“I believe circumstances arose where his mental health was compromised by misuse of medications and perhaps other issues, which amplified the acts of his self-sabotage and grandiosity,” the star wrote in his testimony, according to court records.
“I do not know the details of this case. But based upon what I do know about Carl, I did want to take the opportunity to write on his behalf, in the hope that his sentence might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy as well as justice,” Reeves added.
The actor — who was an investor in Rinsch’s Netflix show and served as a producer on the project — was present at an intervention for Rinsch staged at the director’s Los Angeles home, where a behavioral health consultant tried to convince Rinsch to enter rehab, according to the New York Times.
Rinsch’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Prosecutors said Netflix paid Rinsch about $44 million for a sci-fi show about a new humanlike species that turns against their creators, later sending over another $11 million after the director claimed he needed more funding.
But Rinsch actually placed a chunk of the cash into a personal brokerage account, which he used to trade securities – making a series of failed investments that lost around half of the $11 million in just a couple months, according to prosecutors.
In early 2021, Netflix canceled development of the show after Rinsch’s behavior turned erratic – but that only sent the troubled director on a spending spree, living out of five-star hotels in California and Spain and buying five Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari, prosecutors said.
He spent about $1 million on luxury mattresses, bedding and linens and $652,000 on watches and clothes, using another $1.8 million to pay off his credit card bills, according to court records.
Rinsch was arrested in March 2025 on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and multiple counts related to engaging in transactions stemming from illegal activity. He was looking at a maximum term of 90 years to life if the sentences were served consecutively.
