Gizmondo man goes back to jail, does not pass go (again), does not collect $200 (again)

by Ben Gilbert on Jul 14th 2009 2:00PM

After serving three years in the US prison system for, among a litany of other things, totally disrespecting a $1 million Ferrari Enzo, Gizmondo's ex-CEO Stefan Eriksson is heading right back to jail. Last Friday, the District Court of Uppsala, Sweden sentenced Eriksson to one and a half years in prison for allegedly "making illegal threats, attempted blackmail, and robbery," though given his past offenses (being a head of the Swedish mafia, for instance), we're surprised the rap sheet is so light.

After being released from American prisons in early 2008, Eriksson ran into legal trouble again upon re-entering Sweden. Talking to The Local, his lawyer's initial response to the verdict was, "This is unacceptable, but we must sit down and discuss how we should proceed." We're tentatively suggesting, "Get Eriksson away from cars, money, and other people," but that's just us.

[Via Eurogamer]

Source

Tags: ferrari-enzo, gizmondo, prison, stefan-eriksson, sweden, the-local, uppsala

Reader Comments (52)

So he goes to jail twice, has a bad console to his name, AND crashed an Enzo?

Good lord, it must be heck to be that guy.

Any man who has the capability to somehow saw a Ferrari Enzo completely in half must be put away for life.

agreed. that's worse than murder.

Sweden has a mafia? Who knew?

Pretty much every country has a mafia.

I thought enzo's had bat pods built into the front end, so what's the big deal?

Well the small amount of funny that my post contained is now lost due to the changed picture. Damn you Ben Gilbert!

Okay, 'Velocifaptor' is officially the Best Worst User Name Ever! LOL

But Dietrich gets away, scot-free.

DIIIEEETRRRIIICCCHHHH!!!!!!!

Holy crap, this is just like The Fugitive! Eriksson is innocent! It wasn't him, it was the German man.

*ahem*

The "one-armed" German man.

"I didn't crash my Enzo!"

"I don't care!"

See you at the pahty Richter!

Am I really the only one that thinks this guy is AWESOME!

There is a strong part of me that want's to become rich simply so I can go insane, this guy was headed there, I admire his destruction of expensive toys.

Although the money would have been better spent on the car crushing robot thing from the monster truck shows. I would love to buy that and just crush nice cars in front of car lovers.

He's also a street level thug and murderer. The main witness against him in one of the Swedish cases survived two bomb attempts before testifying. He ran a loan shark operation in Sweden and was busted for that too.

Duped a lot of people and got some expensive toys but at the end of the day no better than your common street criminal.

Yeah, that's awesome.

indeed

He was a magnificent bastard

Uh, how is this game related?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizmondo

The world is at your fingertips young one.

"Not to be confused with Gizmodo, the technology blog."

Perhaps if Joystiq had given some indication in the article I might not have been confused.

It's pretty common knowledge if you read gaming blogs. How much history does this story really need and how much longer do you want this article to be?

One more line is too much to ask?

As it is, I must have had a point, because they changed the picture to something more revealing.

Considering the image they used on this story is a picture of the Gizmondo device, with the name on it, it should be pretty fucking clear.

I also challenge that an obscure handheld console that didn't survive a year (less than 6 months in the US, where I live) is "common knowledge."

Among gaming circles, the story of the Gizmondo is the stuff of legend. The in-depth (and well known) Wired investigative piece is still one of my favorite articles that magazine has run in its entire history.

Also, if you clicked on Stefan's name in the story, it links to a collection of every story about him, from which you could have quickly determined why this man is relevant to gaming.

The fact that you do not immediately recognize the relevance of something does not mean that articles need to be re-written for your benefit, only that you should take some initiative and learn about the subject.

You must be new around here.

"I also challenge that an obscure handheld console that didn't survive a year (less than 6 months in the US, where I live) is "common knowledge." "

You're commenting on a video game blog filled with "hardcore" gamers where this *is* considered to be common knowledge.

yup, the gizmondo lives up there with the N-gage and dreamcast when it comes to video game legends.

Alright, I apologize guys.

I apologize I haven't been here the 3+ years it would have taken to have heard about the Gizmondo in it's heyday.

I apologize for getting the clearly different terms Gizmondo and Gizmodo confused and not knowing the difference to begin with.

I apologize that I had the audacity to reveal my ignorance and ask for clarification.

I'd ask what i could do to earn your forgiveness, but I suspect you guys enjoyed giving me shit way more than the actual article itself. So really, you guys should be thanking me.

Until next time, gentlemen. My asshole hurts.

No problem, welcome to the internet. Now flog yourself in penance with a Wii Nunchuck and put some Ben-Gay on your a**hole.

When you're done return to post again with a greater depth of understanding of the workings of Joystiq - all is forgiven.

To everyone dissing Dakar's knowledge of Gizmondo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbE_nRgmkA8

@ Sly

Don't you EVER put the the N-Gage or the Gizmondo on the same level as the Dreamcast again or I will come to your house and proceed to beat the living holy shit out of you and your three legged dog "Andy".

I actually agree with Captain Planet (for once). Gizmondo lives in the gaming hall of shame with the Virtual Boy and the TurboExpress, not amid the short-lived legends

no, i didn't mean the dreamcast was as shitty as the n-gage or gizmondo. i just meant that they're all legendary consoles to gamers. and thanks khan, i forgot about the abomination that was the virtual boy.

Virtua boy rocked.... but my rods and cones are still recovering....

It's cool. Apparently that bastard has two Enzo's.

the dude deserves life or the death sentence for destroying an enzo. that's unacceptable. they shouldn't allow him to have 2, there are much better people that deserve an enzo.

When does the game based on his life come out? Like GTA if it huffed butane all night and couldn't find it's pants.

Book 'em Danno

"Bake 'em away, Toys."

+1 for the Chief Wiggum Reference

What happened to the photo of the Enzo?

My best guess is that Joystiq is terrified of being tracked down and shot by a couple of thugs for making fun of Eriksson.

Honestly, though, I'd much rather look at a picture of a bifurcated Enzo than a Gizmondo anydy.

Most likely they changed it because Dakar was confused.

Had to change it due to the photo rights (basically, we're not allowed to use the photo and I didn't realize that -- whoops!). I prefer the image of the Enzo too, I assure you. But if you're hankerin' for an AOL-flavored car fix, why not check out Autoblog.com? (I kid! I kid!)

Use mine:

http://yfrog.com/5senzoj

that picture of the enzo makes me depressed. i much rather prefer the gizmondo picture.

Thanks for the free parking

"Fat-Steffe", as his local nickname is, was in fact the leader of the Uppsala-mafia, not the "Swedish Mafia" (there are several organized groups in Sweden, but none that dominate). His earlier exploits mainly revolve around loan sharking and beating up people who couldn't pay back.

Common knowledge, around here. (I live in Uppsala, Sweden.)

There will be some "sticky balls" where he is going.

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Gizmondo man goes back to jail, does not pass go (again), does not collect $200 (again)

Reader Comments (52)

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