Legendary singer Don Henley was extorted three times as trio tried to milk him over stolen Hotel California lyrics, prosecutors say to open trial over alleged theft

A memorabilia dealer and two men accused of stealing handwritten notes and lyrics for the Eagles' blockbuster 1976 album Hotel California allegedly tried to use the items to extort legendary singer Don Henley at least three times.

Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski are said to have tried to sell the materials, worth more than $1million, and lied to auction houses, prospective buyers and cops about how they obtained them between March 2012 and December 2016.

The accusation was laid out Wednesday in a Manhattan courtroom as the three suspects face criminal trial for the alleged theft.  

Henley found out about four pages of material being put up for auction in May 2012 and agreed to purchase it for $8,500, prosecutors said during the opening statements. 

But he was unaware there were still another 100 pages in their possession and declined two further attempts to purchase some lyrics back for $12,000 in 2012 and the complete set for $90,000 in 2016.

‘Henley refused to negotiate and refused to be extorted,’ Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Penfold told the court.

Horowitz, 68, of Manhattan; Inciardi, 59 of Brooklyn, and Kosinski, 61, of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and criminal possession charges, and Horowitz to an extra charge of hindering prosecution.

Former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi (left) memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski(center) and rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz (right) take their places on the defendants table. The three men face criminal trial over the alleged theft of Hotel California lyrics from the Eagles

Prosecutors said the three tried to use the items to extort legendary singer Don Henley at least three times

Horowitz is said to have met author Ed Sanders, who worked with the Eagles on a band biography that was shelved in the early ‘80s, in 2005 and purchased five yellow legal pads filled with the band’s handwritten notes and lyrics for $50,000.

The memorabilia dealer eventually sold the works to Inciardi and Kosinski in 2012 and made $15,000 profit.

But once Henley saw four pages of lyrics from Hotel California listed on Kosinski’s auction website in 2012, his lawyer reached out to stop the sale.

‘Sanders, the source of the lyrics, was a thief and did not have the right to sell them,’ Penfold said.

‘Inciari simply made up a fiction for Sanders that he remembers finding these in a dressing room backstage around 35 years ago.

‘But Sanders responded he received the lyrics from an unnamed stage assistant but he didn’t know if the assistant was alive or dead.’

Horowitz then allegedly proposed that Henley buy the lyrics back for well below the auction minimum and agreed to wire $8,500 for the four pages.

But he did not know there were another 100 pages of material still out there and thought the matter was resolved before handwritten notes of Life in the Fast Lane were put up for auction in Sotheby’s in 2014.

That time he was allegedly given the chance to buy back the material for $12,000 but he refused to negotiate or ‘be extorted.’

The defendants failed to find any buyers for the lyrics on that occasion.

However, Inciardi and Kosinski returned to Sotheby’s in January 2016 and signed another private sale agreement.

Henley’s lawyers informed the auction house the lyrics were stolen and demanded they were returned.

The musician was then offered the chance to go ahead with the auction and split the profits or sell it to him for $90,000, but Henley refused.

Following that, a criminal investigation was launched and the New York City Police Department seized the lyrics from Sotheby’s and another 84 pages of lyrics notes were later taken.

Horowitz is said to have met author Ed Sanders, who worked with the Eagles on a band biography that was shelved in the early ‘80s, in 2005 and purchased five yellow legal pads filled with the band’s handwritten notes and lyrics for $50,000. The three are accused of then trying to sell the illegally obtained notes

The Eagles' hit Hotel California and its album have gone on to become classics

‘Henley refused to negotiate and refused to be extorted,’ Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Penfold told the court.

‘Horowitz concocted that Sanders had received them from the recently deceased Glenn Fry, he thought this could not be refuted,’ prosecutor Penfold told the court.

‘He went out to manipulate Sanders and concoct his new lie. When Sanders later voiced confusion, Horowitz explained “all you and I care about is the chain of transmission. Fry to you and you to me.”’

Sanders allegedly compiled and sent back a statement where he claimed he was shielding Fry.

‘The defendants were not businessmen acting in good faith, but criminal actors,’ Penfold said.

He said they ‘deceived and manipulated to try to frustrate’ Henley’s efforts to recover manuscripts that were rightfully his.

‘You’ll learn that Henley was deeply committed to his art and his craft. He was a perfectionist who labored over every word and rhyme in his lyrics,’ Penfold said.

‘Refining each song on yellow legal sized notepads until it was finally ready to be shared with the world,' the prosecutor said. 

He added Henley saved his notebooks and placed them away in his Malibu property.

Kosinsk appears at court before the opening statements began

Iciardi (left) and Horowitz (right) were seen outside the courtroom as the trial began over their alleged theft of notes from the band the Eagles

But Penfold claimed Sanders took five legal pads, which had more than 100 pages of handwritten notes for the Hotel California album, and kept them as his own.

The prosecutor said Horowitz visited the author’s home to review his archive and proposed selling the notes.

‘Sanders explained in an email that he acquired the Eagles’ notes while staying in Henley’s place in Malibu.

‘It cast significant doubt on whether Sanders owned the notes. Evidence will show that Horowitz ignored this.

‘He offered the notes to a couple of potential buyers and then in 2007 he bought it himself to flip it for a profit.

‘Horowitz sold the entire collection he acquired, the evidence will show they bought the notepads to break them down and sell them.

‘Each of these defendants understood the importance of these lyrics.’

Horowitz, Iciardi and Kosinsk enter the Manhattan courtroom where their defense attorneys denied they were part of any criminal wrongdoing

Inciardi’s defense attorney Stacey Richman told the court: ‘This case is a case about context. The people have accused three innocent men of a crime that never occurred' 

Horowitz’s defense attorney, Jonathan Bach, told the court his client is a ‘well known and highly accomplished rare book dealer.’

He said the defendant sold the legal pads with Eagles lyrics in 2012 and ‘his company netted a grand total of $15,000 on the sale.’

‘That extinguished his entire interest in these pads. This was not a get rich scheme, he was not involved in any conspiracy, he didn’t commit any crimes Mr. Horowitz is innocent. We’ve been looking forward to clearing his name.’

Bach claimed Horowitz was focused on Sanders’ entire body of work as he is a highly successful poet and author who received a Guggenheim Fellowship and won an American Book Award.

‘He [Sanders] had boxes and boxes of materials, bulging out of his home, shed and barn,’ the defense attorney said.

‘Beyond the Eagles boxes there were many more boxes related to the entirety of Ed Sander’s literary work.

‘Glenn Hororwitz is well known for placing literary archives. This was his primary focus, working with Ed Sanders.’

Horowitz allegedly saw a section dedicated to Eagles material and Sanders said it belonged to him.

‘Sanders explains that while working as their authorized biographer he received items from Fry and Henley.

‘He explains his relationship with the Eagles began with Fry who he was friends with. Fry introduced Sanders to the other members of the Eagles band.’

The author dedicated to keep some material in the archive to be presented and sold to universities while others he put to the side to sell separately, according to Bach.

Sanders claimed he received the items from Henley or someone working with the musician.

Bach then shared an email between Sanders and Horowitz in 2005 which explained how the author got his hands on the materials.

‘As for the Eagles I acquired the notebooks exactly how I told John,’ it read.

‘I was staying at Henley's place in Malibu and had total access to his boxes of stuff and there was a lot. I compiled a box of files I wanted and his assistant mailed them to me.

‘However Henly is very aggressive and can be quite aggressive and might conceivably be upset if it gets out these were sold.

‘So maybe we don’t want to sell them at all?’

Horowitz later heard the allegation that the lyrics were stolen from Henley’s lawyers.

‘Sanders is a major respected literary figure who served as the Eagles authorized biographer, of course they readily provided him with documents,’ the defense attorney added.

‘It is impossible to believe such a collection was obtained by stealth.'

Horowitz's defense attorney, Jonathan Bach, said his client is a ‘well known and highly accomplished rare book dealer.’

Kosinski’s defense attorney, Matthew Laroche, told the court this case should never have been brought in the first place due to a lack of evidence and questioned why others were not charged 

Inciardi’s defense attorney Stacey Richman told the court: ‘This case is a case about context. The people have accused three innocent men of a crime that never occurred.

‘The emails, the people’s evidence, one seed of context will prove that Mr. Sanders got them legally.

‘At no point in time is there any perception or understanding these items have been stolen.

‘There is simply no crime here. I am hopeful that the people will be apologizing at the end of this case. Mr. Inciardi is an innocent man.’

Kosinski’s defense attorney, Matthew Laroche, told the court this case should never have been brought in the first place due to a lack of evidence and questioned why Sanders, himself, was not charged.

‘Between 2012 and 2016- Henley’s lawyers claimed there was a burglary and they made that claim in a lawyer’s letter without any factual support.

‘The evidence will show that story of a burglary in 1980 was a false statement.

‘Mr. Henley’s grand jury testimony which said he didn’t give these lyrics will be proven to be false and that will end this case.’

He said the prosecution had to prove that Kosinski knew the materials were stolen and claimed his behavior throughout was ‘entirely consistent with someone that had rightful ownership of the materials.’

‘If a celebrity tells you that property is theirs and you don’t give it back, then according to the People you are committing the crime of criminal possession of stolen property,’ Laroche said.

He added: ‘Mr. Kosinski did not believe these claims. There was no burglary in 1980. The evidence will show that Mr. Sanders had a close relationship with the band.

‘Team Henley is using this prosecution to try and get stuff they gave to Mr. Sanders 44 years ago.’