French Man Who Stole 10 Taylor Swift CDs Sentenced to Prison

A man in France was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday (June 9) for stealing and illegally selling 10 Taylor Swift Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) CDs.

According to French outlet Alouette, the CDs were stolen from a record and vinyl pressing factory in Le Mans, France.

The man, 43, was able to snag 10 copies of the fan-favorite, re-recorded Swift album. He proceeded to sell two of the discs for 25 euros apiece before increasing his price to 50 euros and selling four more CDs.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is not due to be released until July 7. Swift announced the long-awaited project during the first night of her Nashville stops on The Eras Tour back in May.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift Cancels NYC Club Membership After Photo Leak

The man will spend the next eight months behind bars after being accused of nearly causing “an industrial and commercial disaster.”

The company responsible for making the CDs on behalf of Universal Music now fears that their ties with the record label may be severed due to the man’s actions.

“It’s our future that is compromised. There are jobs and millions of euros at stake,” the company said, according to Alouette.

Alouette reports the man who stole the CDs has a long criminal record, including 24 past offenses for theft, drug trafficking, fraud and more.

“I couldn’t even afford to eat lunch. My life is complicated,” the man reportedly claimed, chalking up the theft of the Speak Now CDs to financial issues in his personal life.

Another French news outlet, Pure Charts, reports that the man claimed the “records fell out of a box” while he was “unpacking pallets.”

The outlet also reports the man tried to escape arrest by climbing onto the roof of his home when police arrived. He was allegedly exposed when another employee at the record company bought a stolen CD in order to “unmask the thief.”

Two CDs are reportedly still missing.

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