THREE CHARGED WITH POSSESSING
PILFERED HOTEL CALIFORNIA LYRICS

Welcome to the security office of the Hotel California.

Three men—including Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi (pictured at right)—were indicted by Manhattan DA Alvin L. Bragg Jr. for a conspiracy involving the possession of approximately 100 pages of Don Henley’s handwritten notes and lyrics for the Eagles’ Hotel California, including lyrics to “Hotel California,” “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town.”

Rare-book-seller Glenn Horowitz, Inciardi and Edward Kosinski are all charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree. Inciardi and Kosinski are also charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the first degree. Horowitz is charged with attempted criminal possession of stolen property in the first degree and two counts of hindering prosecution in the second degree.

“We are thankful to New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his staff for pursuing this case and have faith that justice will be served,” Eagles manager Irving Azoff said in a statement disseminated via email on 7/12 by publicist Larry Solters. “This action exposes the truth about music-memorabilia sales of highly personal, stolen items hidden behind a facade of legitimacy. No one has the right to sell illegally obtained property or profit from the outright theft of irreplaceable pieces of music history. These handwritten lyrics are an integral part of the legacy Don Henley has created over the course of his 50-plus-year career. We look forward to the return of Don’s property for him and his family to enjoy and preserve for posterity.”

Despite knowing that the materials were stolen, the defendants attempted to sell the manuscripts, manufacturing false provenance and lying to auction houses, potential buyers and law enforcement about the origin of the material, Solters notes. The manuscripts are collectively valued at more than $1 million.

“New York is a world-class hub for art and culture, and those who deal cultural artifacts must scrupulously follow the law,” said Bragg. “There is no room for those who would seek to ignore the basic expectations of fair dealing and undermine the public’s confidence and trust in our cultural trade for their own ends. These defendants attempted to keep and sell these unique and valuable manuscripts despite knowing they had no right to do so. They made up stories about the origin of the documents and their right to possess them so they could turn a profit.”

The following is extracted verbatim from the release—apart from our removal of Oxford commas and the rendering of the defendants’ names in all caps. It’s quite a story.

According to court documents, the manuscripts were originally stolen in the late 1970s by an author who had been hired to write a biography of the band. The biographer eventually sold the manuscripts in 2005 to Horowitz, a rare-books dealer, who in turn sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski. When Henley learned that Inciardi and Kosinski were trying to sell portions of the manuscripts, he filed police reports, told the defendants that the materials were stolen and demanded the return of his property. Rather than making any effort to ensure they actually had rightful ownership, the defendants responded by engaging in a years-long campaign to prevent Henley from recovering the manuscripts.

Horowitz and Inciardi worked to fabricate the manuscripts’ provenance, and between 2012 and 2017, Inciardi and Kosinski attempted to use that false statement of provenance to coerce Henley into buying back his stolen property. Inciardi and Kosinski simultaneously sought to sell the manuscripts through Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses. When trying to sell the manuscripts through Christie’s, Inciardi lied and withheld information regarding Henley’s claims. Inciardi and Kosinski requested that Sotheby’s hide Henley’s claims from potential buyers prior to offering the manuscripts for sale at public auction in 2016.

Beginning in December 2016, the district attorney’s office executed a series of search warrants and retrieved Don Henley’s stolen manuscripts from Sotheby’s and from Kosinski’s New Jersey residence, including 84 pages to songs from Hotel California. Shortly thereafter, Horowitz attempted to exploit the recent death of founding Eagles member Glenn Frey to prevent criminal prosecution; he produced a new false statement of provenance, this time claiming that the materials originated with the now-deceased Frey. In one email message, Horowitz observed that “[Frey], alas, is dead and identifying him as the source would make this go away once and for all.”

The release notes that the charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.