Bergen man among trio who tried to sell stolen Eagles lyrics, Manhattan DA says

"What a nice surprise. Bring your alibis," the Eagles once sang in their hit "Hotel California."

It's advice that a trio of local men, including one Bergen County resident, may have to take to heart.

The three have been indicted for allegedly trying to sell handwritten notes and lyrics stolen more than 40 years ago from the Eagles' Don Henley, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Wednesday. The men misled auction houses and at one point falsely invoked the name of the late rock legend Glenn Frey in their attempts to sell the memorabilia, thought to be worth more than $1 million, the DA's office said.

Bragg said the three men — Edward Kosinski, 59, of Franklin Lakes; Craig Inciardi, 58, of Brooklyn; and Glenn Horowitz, 66, of Manhattan — were each indicted on charges of conspiracy and criminal possession of stolen property or attempted possession.

From 2012 to 2017, the trio tried to sell manuscripts including the lyrics of the songs "Hotel California," "Life in the Fast Lane" and "New Kid in Town" to Christie's and Sotheby's auction houses, while also trying to get Henley to buy his own lyrics back using a fake statement of provenance, authorities said.

"These defendants attempted to keep and sell these unique and valuable manuscripts, despite knowing they had no right to do so," Bragg said in the statement. "They made up stories about the origin of the documents and their right to possess them so they could turn a profit."

According to Bragg's office, the manuscript, covering about 100 pages, was stolen from Henley in the late 1970s by an author who had been hired to write a biography of the band. The author, not named in the statement, then allegedly sold the materials to Horowitz, a rare-book seller in New York, who later sold them to Kosinski and Inciardi.

"This action exposes the truth about music memorabilia sales of highly personal, stolen items hidden behind a façade of legitimacy," Henley's attorney, Irving Azoff, stated. "No one has the right to sell illegally obtained property or profit from the outright theft of irreplaceable pieces of musical history."

Azoff added Henley looks forward to reclaiming the manuscript.

In a joint statement, attorneys for the three men denied the charges.

"The DA’s office alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of well-respected professionals," the statement read. "We will fight these unjustified charges vigorously. These men are innocent."

In December 2016, authorities seized manuscripts from Sotheby's and Kosinski's home. Prosecutors said that to avoid prosecution, Horowitz tried to produce a false statement of provenance claiming that the materials originated from Frey, one of the band's founders, who died in 2015.

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Prosecutors said Horowitz wrote an email in 2016 allegedly saying, "[Frey] alas, is dead and identifying him as the source would make this go away once and for all."

Henley filed police reports and demanded the return of his papers when he learned they had been stolen, said prosecutors, who added that the trio "responded by engaging in a years-long campaign to prevent Henley from recovering the manuscripts."

While trying to sell the material to Christie's, Inciardi allegedly concealed Henley's claims. He and Kosinski allegedly asked Sotheby's to hide the dispute from potential buyers in 2016.

In addition to the charges of conspiracy and possession of stolen property, Horowitz was indicted on two counts of second-degree hindering of prosecution.

All three pleaded not guilty and were released on their recognizance, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office said. A motion of discovery will be decided on in October, the spokesperson said.

According to online business records, Kosinski is the owner of Gotta Have Rock and Roll, a memorabilia auction house based in Franklin Lakes.

The business's website brags that it is a "premier auction house with record-setting prices in music, sports, pop culture and historical memorabilia. We have sold some of the most influential artifacts in music history." That includes, according to the website, an Elvis Presley guitar that "realized" $1.32 million, the piano on which John Lennon composed "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and a guitar played by rocker Duane Allman.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen NJ man allegedly tried to sell stolen Eagles, Henley lyrics