JM Productions Slapped With Obscenity IndictmentIn a desperate attempt to legitimize the Federal Government's "war on obscenity", porn maker JM Productions and retailer/online distributor Five Star Video were indicted on 18 counts of interstate trafficking of obscene material last week.
The June 1
indictment states that the two companies and their principal owners "knowingly used an interactive computer service and other facilities and means of interstate and foreign commerce to sell and distribute, to a location in Northern Virginia, obscene DVDs...in violation of Title 18, United States Code, sections 1465 ['Transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution'] and (2)(a).
The DVD titles in question,
Gag Factor 15 &
18, American Bukkake 13 and
Filthy Things 6, were allegedly shipped through the USPS on February 6 and 10 of 2006. It has so far not been explained why
Gag Factor 16 and
17 were not deemed obscene.
If convicted, Jeff Steward and Mike Norton of JM Productions, and Christopher Ankeney and Kenneth Graham of Five Star could face maximum penalties of five years in prison for each count.
What may be more troubling for the defendants is the 18th count, which invokes the Criminal Forfeiture statute (U.S.C. section 1467). The statute allows for the seizure of "any property, real or personal, constituting or traceable to gross profits or other proceeds or other proceeds obtained from such offense;" as well as "any property, real or personal, used or intended to be used to commit or promote the commission of such offense," at the court's discretion. That means that the defendants stand to not only serve prison sentences as sex offenders, but to loose much of their personal property as well.
(We're talking about some dirty videos here, right? I mean, were the DVD cases made out of cocaine, or something?)
Attorneys for the defendants, Jeff Douglas, Louis Sirkin, Richard Hertzberg and Allan B. Gelbard, Esq. released a prepared statement yesterday expressing their confidence in securing an acquittal and condemning the government's actions.
They called the indictment a "misallocation of scarce resources to try to galvanize its extremist voting base" and said that "all those charged and their lawyers are confidant of an acquittal and a complete repudiation of this abuse of Federal power."
The statement goes on to say that "somehow President Bush believes that it should be a crime to distribute photographs of sexual acts which are perfectly lawful to engage in."
"How much safer do you feel," they ask, "knowing that this is where F.B.I. agents, Justice Department lawyers, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Federal Court resources are being expended? Do you think bank robbers, embezzlers, drug dealers and terrorists feel more or less vulnerable?"
U.S. District Magistrate Edward C. Voss is pushing to fast track the case, probably to drum up conservative support for the November elections. He has set a date of motion deadline for July 15, 2006.
The JM Productions website,
www.jerkzone.com, was temporarily off line over the weekend but is back up, with all titles in question available for purchase. The FiveStarDVD.com site is no longer offering JM Productions products.