Richard Winton och David Pierson skriver i Log Angeles Times att Tjock-Steffe kan få 14 års fängelse för en mängd brott i samband med hans mystiska bilkrasch för ett tag sedan.

If convicted on all counts, Bo Stefan M. Eriksson, 44, would face up to 14 years in prison. He pleaded not guilty through his attorney, who described the charges as “overblown.”

The case stems from the 162-mph crash of the Enzo, one of only 400 made, on Pacific Coast Highway on Feb. 21. Eriksson told sheriff’s deputies that he was a passenger and that the driver, a man he knew only as “Dietrich,” had fled into the hills.

But prosecutors charged Monday that Dietrich never existed and that Eriksson had been behind the wheel — with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit — when the crash occurred. The charges were filed after officials received results of a DNA test of blood found on the vehicle’s driver-side air bag.

Laying out their case against Eriksson for the first time, prosecutors accused him of embezzlement and
grand theft for allegedly bringing the Enzo and the rest of his $3.8-million car collection to the United States, even though he had only leased them from British financial institutions. The lease contract, authorities said, prohibited him from taking the vehicles out of England.

He was also charged with possessing a handgun, which is illegal because he had been convicted of drug and counterfeiting felonies in Sweden.

Tjock-Steffe flyttade till USA så sent som förra året och jag undrar hur han kunde få visum med sin bakgrund. Även om det knappast är troligt att han kommer att få maxistraffet så kommer han hur som helst att få ett kännbart straff. USA och speciellt Kalifornien är en fantastisk plats att bo på, men det gäller att hålla sig inom lagen. Om inte så kan straffet bli mycket kännbart, som Tjock-Steffe nu får erfara. Borgen är satt till den högst ovanliga summan av $5.5 miljoner, mest därför att Tjock-Steffe tydligen tänkte smita till England när han greps.