In Mark Seal's account, Coppola attended theatre arts school with Caan and directed him, along with actor Robert Duvall, in the film The Rain People.

Similarly, unauthorized copies of The Last Samurai, Mystic River, Big Fish and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World were said to have been traced to Caridi.

The FBI began an investigation into the affair and later that month charged Russell Sprague of Homewood, Illinois, with criminal copyright infringement.

Federal authorities alleged that for at least three years, Caridi had given Sprague his screener copies of approximately 60 movies seeking consideration for the Academy Awards.

[3] Caridi was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering from complications due to a fall, where he slipped into a comatose state and died on May 28, 2019.