Jayme Gordon, Kung Fu Panda Wire Fraud, Massachusetts 2024

BOSTON — A 51-year-old Randolph man was convicted today in a brazen scheme to defraud DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., by falsely claiming he created the characters and story behind the blockbuster film Kung Fu Panda. Jayme Gordon was found guilty on four counts of wire fraud and three counts of perjury after a federal jury dismantled his years-long attempt to extract a $12 million settlement from the studio.

Gordon concocted the fraud after seeing a trailer for Kung Fu Panda in early 2008, months before its June release. He retroactively revised his 1990s-era ‘Panda Power’ drawings and story, renaming it ‘Kung Fu Panda Power’ to mirror DreamWorks’ characters. The similarities were superficial at best — his crude sketches bore little resemblance to Po or Master Shifu, the film’s central figures.

As part of the scheme, Gordon filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in February 2011 in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. He later demanded DreamWorks pay him $12 million to settle the baseless claim. When the studio refused, Gordon doubled down — fabricating and backdating sketches, lying under oath during deposition, and deleting critical computer files that were supposed to be turned over in discovery.

The fraud unraveled when investigators discovered Gordon had traced some of his so-called ‘original’ panda drawings from a 1996 Disney Lion King coloring book. His ‘1992’ and ‘1993’ sketches — dated years before the book existed — proved he had backdated the work. One sketch even bore registration from 2000, further exposing the lie.

At trial, Gordon doubled down on deception, testifying he didn’t trace the drawings — instead claiming Disney had copied him and based the character Timon on his art. The jury didn’t buy it. His testimony collapsed under forensic scrutiny, sealing his conviction on all seven counts.

Gordon now faces up to 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count and up to five years for each perjury charge, along with fines of $250,000 per count and restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for March 30, 2017, before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Bookbinder and Amy Harman Burkart of the Cybercrime Unit. DreamWorks spent over $3 million and two years defending against Gordon’s fraudulent litigation.

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