Jury to Sopranos wannabe: Fuhgeddaboudit

TRENTON, N.J., Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A federal jury in Trenton, N.J. has decided an aspiring writer doesn't deserve to be paid for contributions he said he made to TV's "The Sopranos."

Robert Baer, a former prosecutor and municipal judge, sued "Sopranos" creator David Chase for breach-of-contract, claiming he should be paid for helping Chase conceive the iconic mob drama, giving him background information and introducing him to sources.

"I helped him create it," Baer told the New York Daily News. "I was there feeding him information and bringing him to people."

While Chase conceded he sought Baer's help during his research, he described as "egocentric fantasies" Baer's claims that the cable television series was his idea.

"This has been like having a fly buzzing in your bathroom for seven years and now it's been swatted," Chase said outside a Trenton courtroom.

The jury determined Baer wasn't owed any money because he never had a "reasonable expectation" of being paid by Chase, the News said.

But the panel also said Baer was right to expect some kind of compensation, such as guidance regarding his writing, which the jury decided Chase had fulfilled, The New York Times said.