Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy leaker pleads guilty

Think it's on 8-track in the joint?
Think it's on 8-track in the joint?

It appears that the saga of Kevin Cogill is drawing to a close - almost. Cogill, who was arrested for leaking nine songs that would eventually appear on Gun N' Roses' Chinese Democracy, officially pleaded guilty yesterday to federal copyright violation.

According to Rolling Stone, Cogill made the plea at a Los Angeles court, admitting that he did leak the songs in June on his Antiquiet website.

He's pretty ballsy, though - if you go to his site, he still has a "We've Got Chinese Democracy, And It's Worth The Wait" section up on the main page. A) Whether the album is worth the wait is debatable, and B) it's just not very smart to leave something like that up when you're trying to avoid doing time in the cooler. But ballsy is as ballsy does.

Bad times ahead

Cogill initially entered a not guilty plea at his first court date, but agreed to change his plea in exchange for leniency. Cogill still faces a year in federal prison, probation and a hefty fine. Can you say, "Bad times?"

Cogill, who blogs under the name 'Skewrl' is going down swinging. "If legal proceedings come my way, I'll face them 100 percent," he said back in June. "I'm not afraid of that. I did what I did, and I'll face the music if I have to."

We'll see what he has to say when he has to face some hardcore cons in the joint who have nothing but some old Hootie & The Blowfish cassettes to listen to.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.