Eric Hodgson, a California citizen who was attempting to defraud $2 million from the California State Department of Transportation, has lightened his sentence by relinquishing a number of his possessions to the state. Â Among these possessions is $10,000 worth of Star Wars merchandise, which, apparently, now belongs to the state of California.
Hodgson, the owner of Phenix Print & Image, pled guilty on July 11th to 7 counts of grand theft. As part of the strategy to ease his prison time, Hodgson gave up two cars, two houses, retirement savings, and the considerable number of Star Wars toys, comics, and other objects in his possession. The $10,000 worth of merchandise were, in fact, purchased with the defrauded money, and Hodgson’s prison sentence was lowered to 9 years after the items, and other pieces of his property, were used to repay the California Department of Transportation.
Though there is no exhaustive list of Hodgson’s Star Wars items, he apparently parted with a rubber Yoda figurine that is a full 3 feet tall as part of the deal, as well as other toys and comics. Hodgson also used the money he pocketed from failing to complete newspaper jobs for the California Department of Transportation to pay for trips for himself and his staff.
With the trial over, the California State Government now possesses an impressive collection of Star Wars merchandise, which begs the question, what will they do with the 3 foot Yoda and his companions? Given that the Department of Transportation collected the merchandise, I could support a Star Wars themed carpool buddy for every California driver, but the state will probably just auction off the objects to gain back the money Hodgson owes. If so, it looks like there will be more cool toys and comics on sale in California than San Diego Comic Con has already led us to believe.
(via Blastr, Los Angeles Times)
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