The director of 2013’s 47 Ronin, Carl Rinsch, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for defrauding Netflix out of $11 million during production and never completing the sci-fi series White Horse (also known as “Conquest).
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff was very lenient when he handed down the sentence, which is far below the 60-month term federal prosecutors had actually requested. It is also below the 90-year maximum time Rinsch theoretically faced. According to federal guidelines, the law actually calls for a term of nine to eleven years, given the scale of the fraud.
Judge Rakoff acknowledged Rinsch’s mental health struggles, saying that it “may explain some of the excesses” raised by the defense. But he also told the director and his legal team, “that don’t detract from the court’s conclusion that he was determined to lie to get substantial monies from Netflix, lie to cover it up.
Keanu Reeves wrote a letter asking for leniency
47 Ronin’s lead actor, Keanu Reeves, who worked with Rinsch on the 2013 film, submitted a letter to the court ahead of sentencing, asking for leniency.
Reeves wrote that Rinsch “bring[s] exceptional joy and warmth to the people around him” and “creative inspiration to others through his creativity and vision.” But he also didn’t pretend the case was simple, saying that Rinsch “can self-sabotage by amplifying the scale, scope and landscape of what had been negotiated.”
Rinsch himself addressed the judge directly before the sentence was handed down. “I made a mistake,” he told the court. “This process has forced me to confront things about myself that I never fully understood before.”
Where the money Carl Rinsch spent actually went
A Manhattan jury convicted Rinsch in December on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. Netflix had paid him roughly $44 million across 2018 and 2019 for the sci-fi series White Horse, then wired an additional $11 million in 2020 after Rinsch said he needed it to finish the show.
Instead, prosecutors say the director moved all the money into a personal account and lost close to half of it within a couple of months on failed investments before shifting the remainder into cryptocurrency. He also went on an extraordinary spending spree, purchasing five Rolls-Royces, a red Ferrari, $652,000 on watches and clothes, and $1.8 million paid off in credit card debt. But the strangest purchase, which has everyone scratching their heads, has to be the $638,000 he spent on two mattresses, with another $295,000 going towards bedding and linens, believe it or not.
Rinsch was entenced to prison — and ordered to pay it all back
Alongside the 30-month sentence, Rinsch has been ordered by the court to repay Netflix the full $11 million in restitution. The streaming company is also separately suing for $4.4 million in legal fees it spent during the litigation Rinsch initiated when he sued Netflix in 2023 for around $14 million he claimed he was owed. That decision backfired when his spending habits came to light and led to his 2025 arrest.
Rakoff closed off the hearing by calling Rinsch “a very talented person who will still find ways to make use of those talents once released from prison.” He then added that “he had no reason to do this. He chose to do this and covered it up for years.”
The director is now due to report to prison on September 1.
To date, Carl Rinsch actually only has one single feature film to his name: 47 Ronin, a film that cost around $175–225 million to make and only made $151.8 million at the box office. The historical fantasy action film went through extensive reshoots at the time and apparently ended with Rinsch reportedly locked out of the edit during post-production.
In hindsight, this arguably should have been a warning sign to Netflix before entrusting the director with such a high budget. They’ll definitely be more vigilant moving forward.
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