Keanu Reeves seeks leniency for Netflix fraud convict

Actor Keanu Reeves has submitted a letter to a federal judge requesting leniency for filmmaker Carl Rinsch, who was convicted last December of defrauding Netflix. Rinsch is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29.

In a letter to Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York, Reeves wrote that he was writing on behalf of his friend and former colleague in the hope that his sentence might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy as well as justice. Reeves stated he does not know the details of the case but offered his perspective as an artistic peer. The actor worked with Rinsch on the 2013 film "47 Ronin" and has maintained a friendship since, including attending Rinsch's 2014 wedding in Uruguay.

Reeves described Rinsch as an exceptional artist and referenced a project called "White Horse," which Rinsch showed him during a visit. Reeves called it a superb and visionary work of art, although unfinished. He added that, in his opinion, Rinsch can self-sabotage by amplifying the scale, scope and landscape of what had been negotiated, accordingly placing himself and his counterparties at odds. Reeves clarified this was not meant as an excuse but as an insight.