LA man Christian Eric Stevens accused of stealing $450,000 in movie posters
Moviegoers at the pre-screening reception of Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games” on Thursday in Beverly Hills.
Talk about a passion for collecting.
A Los Angeles man was charged Thursday with stealing more than 3,000 movie posters together valued at nearly a half-million dollars, including posters for the newly released hit “The Hunger Games,” according to The Associated Press.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Christian Eric Stevens, 36, pleaded not guilty grand theft of personal property and receiving stolen property. He faces a maximum penalty of five years.
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The Times said Stevens took in more than $450,000 after selling the posters online.
According to the AP, police claim they purchased a poster online from Stevens and later found a cache of posters marked “not for resale” at his home. They allege that the stealing began in June and continued until this week, the news agency said.
The Times said prosecutors allege that Stevens stole the posters from bus shelters in the San Fernando Valley area.
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"There were posters for virtually every movie that's been out for the last two years," said LA Police Department Cmdr Andrew Smith was quoted as saying.