Rock memorabilia dealer and two men are charged with trying to sell stolen handwritten lyrics worth $1 million for the Eagles' blockbuster 1976 album Hotel California

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A memorabilia dealer and two other men have been criminally charged in Manhattan with possessing handwritten notes and lyrics for the Eagles' blockbuster 1976 album Hotel California that were allegedly stolen from singer Don Henley.

Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski were charged Tuesday with trying to sell the materials, worth more than $1 million, and lying to auction houses, prospective buyers and cops about how they obtained them. 

Prosecutors said an unnamed author working on a potential Eagles biography stole the materials from Henley in the late 1970s, and then sold them to Horowitz, a rare books and rock memorabilia dealer, in 2005.

Horowitz then allegedly sold the materials to Inciardi and Kosinski, who in turn tried selling them at auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's or coercing Henley into buying them back.

Suspects (left to right) Glenn Horowitz, Craig Iciardi and Edward Kosinski were arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court with possessing stolen handwritten lyric notes for the Eagles

Prosecutors said an unnamed author working on a potential Eagles biography stole the materials from Henley in the late 1970s, and then sold them to Horowitz (center)

Don Henley of the Eagles performs on stage on June 22 in Edinburgh, Scotland

'They made up stories about the origin of the documents and their right to possess them so they could turn a profit,' Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. 

Bragg said the materials include lyrics to the songs 'Hotel California,' 'Life in the Fast Lane' and 'New Kid In Town,' with many of the lyrics recovered through warrants.

Horowitz, 66, of Manhattan; Inciardi, 58, of Brooklyn, and Kosinski, 59, of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and criminal possession charges, and Horowitz additionally to hindering prosecution.

The top charge faced by each man in the case carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. 

The three men were released without bail, and their lawyers insist they're innocent.

'The DA's office alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of well-respected professionals,' defense attorneys Antonia Apps, Jonathan Bach and Stacey Richman said in a statement vowing to 'fight these unjustified charges vigorously.

Suspects Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski appear in handcuffs ahead of arraignment

Edward Kosinski is escorted into Manhattan court for arraignment on Tuesday

Glenn Horowitz, left, arrives to criminal court after being indicted for conspiracy involving handwritten notes for the Eagles album Hotel California

Members of The Eagles, from left, Timothy B. Schmit, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh pose with an autographed guitar after a news conference in 2013

Apps, who represents Kosinski, later called the charges 'the weakest criminal case I have seen in my entire career,' characterizing it as a 'civil dispute' over ownership.

'Despite six years of investigating the case, the DA hasn´t included a single factual allegation in the indictment showing that my client did anything wrong,' she said in a statement.

The trove of documents included Henley's notes and lyrics for 'Hotel California' and two other singles from that eponymous, blockbuster album: 'Life in the Fast Lane' and 'New Kid In Town.' Prosecutors valued the material at over $1 million.

The writings are 'irreplaceable pieces of musical history' and 'an integral part of the legacy Don Henley has created over the course of his 50-plus-year career,' longtime Eagles manager Irving Azoff said in a statement.

He thanked prosecutors for bringing a case that exposes 'the truth about music memorabilia sales of highly personal, stolen items hidden behind a facade of legitimacy.'

The chart-topping, Grammy-Award-winning single 'Hotel California' is a touchstone of 1970s rock, with one of the era's most memorable guitar solos capping a musical tale of being lured into a glitzy, mysterious hotel where 'you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.' 

The hit single Hotel California, from the album of the same name (above), is a touchstone of 1970s rock, with one of the era's most memorable guitar solos

According to prosecutors and an indictment, Horowitz (front center) bought the documents around 2005 from a writer who worked on a never-published book about the Eagles

The three men were released without bail, and their lawyers insist they are innocent

Theories about the meaning of Hotel California's lyrics abound. Henley has said it's about excess and a dark side of the American dream.

The Grammy-winning album has sold more than 26 million copies since its release in 1976, making it one of the best selling in history.

According to prosecutors and an indictment, Horowitz bought the documents around 2005 from a writer who worked on a never-published book about the Eagles in the late ´70s.

The writer, who isn't identified in the indictment, gave a variety of explanations to Horowitz over the years of where the documents came from.

In one email included in the indictment, the writer says Henley's assistant sent them from the musician's Malibu, California, home after the writer picked them out.

In another, the writer found them discarded in a dressing room backstage at an Eagles concert; in another, someone who worked for the band gave them to him.

'It was about 35 years ago and my memory is foggy!' the writer said in a 2012 email.

The Eagles are seen performing in the 1970s at an unspecified concert

Kosinski is freed on bail after pleading not guilty. His attorney called the charges 'the weakest criminal case I have seen in my entire career'

By then, Kosinski and Inciardi had bought the documents from Horowitz; Kosinski had listed them for sale on his online auction site and inquiries about their origins were looming.

In subsequent emails, Horowitz and Inciardi worked to have the writer's ''explanation' shaped into a communication' - eventually, an April 2012 email saying that he didn't remember who gave him the documents. Kosinski sent it to Henley's lawyer, according to the indictment.

Later that month, Kosinski sold some 'Hotel California' lyric sheets to Henley for $8,500, according to the indictment.

Inciardi and Kosinski then tried to peddle more of the Eagles documents to other potential buyers through Christie's and Sotheby's auction houses, while also offering to sell some to Henley, according to the indictment.

By 2017, with not only Henley's lawyers but the district attorney's office asking questions, Horowitz asked the writer whether he'd gotten the materials from another founding Eagles member, Glenn Frey, the indictment said. Frey had died the year before.

'Once you identify GF as the source of the tablet, you and I are out of this picture for good,' Horowitz wrote in a follow-up email.

The writer then provided a note to that effect, according to the indictment.