Michigan Toy Soldier owner charged with defrauding Peter Jackson

In probably the strangest news I've ever heard in the gaming community, the owner of the popular FLGS & website Michigan Toy Soldier Co. has been charged with stealing Peter Jackson's (best known as the director of the Lord Of The Rings movies) credit card info and using it to purchase $200,000 of merchandise for his business.

Rick Berry, who owns Michigan Toy Soldier, has been charged with credit card fraud in federal court and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7th. Media reports state that Peter Jackson made an online purchase and Mr. Berry fraudulently used that information to subsequently purchase around $200,000 in merchandise for Michigan Toy Soldier.

Mr. Jackson became aware of these fraudulent purchases sometime in 2007 and Mr. Berry subsequently repaid about $100,000 of the charges at about $2,500 per month. In his defense, Mr. Berry's attorney claims that he used the money to keep his business afloat and that he had every intention to pay it back as quickly as possible.

Detroit local TV news also had this report

I still haven't been able to track down the official court filings via Justia but, when I do, I'll post them here!