Film Producer Who Got Probation Now Looking At 15 Years

Peter Hoffman once ran a company that made some smash hit films – Total Recall, Terminator 2, Basic Instinct – then he was associated with another production company that had more modest hits – including Rules of Engagement and The Believer. In 2014, federal prosecutors charged him with wire fraud for submitting false expense reports on a Louisiana mansion being transformed into a post-production facility in order to get $1.13 million in movie tax credits issued by Louisiana. He asserted that his documentation was provided in good faith and entered evidence to prove it. Nevertheless he was convicted and sentenced to five years probation. But, in an almost unheard of instance of an appeals court vacating a sentence in favor of something harsher, the Fifth Circuit ordered the judge to redo the punishment more along the lines of the presumptive sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Hoffman is appealing the decision based on intent, and has the support of several retired judges and law professors.