According to Business Insider and other media outlets, Keanu Reeves wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency for Carl Rinsch at his sentencing hearing in June.
While it is common for family and/or friends to write character letters for convicted criminal for their sentencing hearings, this move was not one of Reeves’ better ones, in my opinion. Rinsch didn’t defraud Netflix of a pack of gum or a small amount of money. He was convicted for defrauding Netflix of $11 M – that’s not chump change. If you are convicted of committing a crime by a jury of your peers, then you put on your big boy boxers and suffer the consequences. Being a nice guy or an artistic one or bringing joy to your friends doesn’t negate the fact you committed a crime. A common denominator here is lawyer Matthew Rosengarten.
BoredPanda is reporting some of the blowback Reeves is getting for writing the letter in support of fraudster Carl Rinsch.