Director Pleads Guilty To Inflating Movie Costs

A movie director charged with inflating expenses in his application for Massachusetts film tax credits has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced to up to three years in state prison and up to 10 years of probation.

Daniel Adams, who had initially pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, including larceny and making a false claim against the state, has also been ordered to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution to the state.

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office had accused Adams of exaggerating expenses for two films shot on Cape Cod, "The Golden Boys" and "The Lightkeepers," resulting in about $4.7 million in tax credit overpayments.

Adam's attorney, James Greenberg, blames the state law that creates tax credits to attract films to the Bay State.

"I mean, they were basically just issuing public money, taxpayers' money, just basically issuing checks," Greenberg said.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball ordered Adams released Thursday on $10,000 bail until the start of his sentence on May 10. Adams was also ordered to surrender his passport and wear a GPS tracking device.

WBUR's Delores Handy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.