Writer Enters Plea in Book Theft Case

A novelist and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter charged with stealing thousands of books from more than 70 libraries pleaded no contest Friday to possessing stolen property.

Gustav Jerry Hasford, who co-wrote the screenplay for the 1987 movie “Full Metal Jacket,” which was based on his novel “The Short-Timers,” entered the plea in a bargain with prosecutors, who dropped two criminal counts of grand theft.

The plea was accepted by San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Harry Woolpert. Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry Estrada-Mullaney has recommended that Hasford serve six months in jail. As part of the plea bargain, Hasford also was ordered to pay restitution on all of the criminal counts. Sentencing was set for Jan. 4.

Hasford pleaded to possession of about 2,000 books, valued at about $20,000, taken from libraries in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Sacramento, St. Louis, Longview, Wash., London and San Luis Obispo.

Hasford co-wrote “Full Metal Jacket” with director Stanley Kubrick and Michael Herr. The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, but the Oscar was given to the authors of “The Last Emperor.”

The investigation began March 17 when police at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, searching for 87 overdue books, examined a storage locker rented by Hasford. Among the estimated 10,000 books found there were at least 2,000 allegedly stolen from 77 libraries.