Netflix director sentenced for blowing sci-fi series funds on dogecoin

Carl Rinsch, the director of 47 Ronin, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after taking $11 million from Netflix, intended to fund the production of his sci-fi series White Horse, and blowing it on luxury goods and investments in dogecoin.

Rinsch was reportedly handed the lenient sentence on Monday after Judge Jed Rakoff heard statements from the likes of Keanu Reeves, and others who knew Rinsch, attesting to his poor mental health and good character. 

He was convicted of wire fraud in December 2025 after he misappropriated the millions Netflix gave him in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help finish his series that had already cost $44 million. 

Rinsch moved the funds to personal brokerage accounts and lost most of it betting on COVID-related market trades. He was eventually left with $4 million and decided to spend it all on dogecoin. 

The move sort of paid off, and he managed to make $27 million from the investment. Rinsch later thanked a Kraken online chat representative, telling them, “god bless crypto.” 

He then reportedly bought five Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, luxury watches, designer clothes, and spent millions on high-end furniture, including mattresses and antiques. 

Read more: Bitcoiner claims he crashed 70% of Dogecoin network with an old laptop

Rinsch claimed the purchases were for the show and then tried to sue Netflix for another $14 million that he said was contractually his. Netflix beat this case in an arbitration ruling. 

Six preliminary episodes of the show were made by Rinsch, partly with his own money, before Netflix agreed to invest. 

The prosecution argued that Rinsch should receive a 60-month sentence instead. They claimed he had a “disdain for the law” and had “doomed” the production of White Horse with his spending that ultimately harmed the careers of its cast and crew.

Rinsch’s defence argued that during production he suffered mental health issues and that his doctor “was not doing what he was supposed to be doing.”

Indeed, Rakoff agreed that Rolls-Royce purchases were evidence of “someone who has a manic state of mind beyond simple greed.”

In Reeve’s submitted evidence, he wrote, “I believe circumstances arose where his mental health was compromised by misuse of medications and perhaps other issues, which amplified the acts of his self-sabotage and grandiosity, impacting his relationships, work, and ability to complete [the production].”

Rinsch claimed, “I failed to recognize the danger of the condition I was in,” adding, “I failed to seek help. I accept responsibility.”

Rakoff ordered Rinsch to pay Netflix $11 million in restitution, attend a mental health program, and refrain from taking drugs. 

The judge reportedly joked, “I don’t recommend to him that he keep investing in cryptocurrency,” adding that “It’s just a market for gambling.”

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