An Italian man who authorities say used a sophisticated scheme to steal unpublished works of authors pleaded guilty Friday, prosecutors said. Filippo Bernardini, who worked for Simon & Schuster UK, stole more than 1,000 unpublished manuscripts between August 2016 and January 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. Among those tricked was a Pulitzer Prize recipient, who sent Bernardini a copy of their unpublished manuscript, according to an indictment. “Filippo Bernardini used his insider knowledge of the publishing industry to create a scheme that stole precious works from authors and menaced the publishing industry,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. A representative for Simon & Schuster said at the time that they were "shocked and horrified" to learn of the allegations, and they were grateful to the FBI for investigating the case.

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