The Department of Justice (DOJ) convicted the owner and operator of 27 adult pornography stores along with several other individuals who pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering, obscenity, fraud and income tax evasion. The charged are especially significant because the convictions involve off-the-shelf, hard-core pornography, rather than the most deviant material.
In addition, John Kenneth Coil, the owner and operator, agreed to forfeit all his enterprise properties within the state of Texas, amounting to more than 30 pieces of realty and 20 hard-core pornography stores throughout Texas valued at an estimated $9.7 million.
This case shows that obscenity convictions can be achieved when the material doesn't involve torture, rape and other extremely deviant activities. It sends an important message to the porn industry that the prosecution bar has been lowered to include off-the-shelf, hard-core porn, said Jan LaRue, Concerned Women for America's chief counsel.
Sixty-one-year-old Coil used front companies in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arizona to disguise these adult-oriented businesses with names like Trinity Christians of America, Rex Temple and Louisiana Development. Coils' obscenity charges involve the interstate transportation of Nympho Bride, a pornographic film. Additionally, Coil misreported his income to avoid tax payments, resulting in a tax loss of $4.5 million between 1981 and 2003.
CWA, in particular, applauds this great work and expresses their hearty congratulations to the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Dallas County District Attorney's Office and the Austin Police Department, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Marshall, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney N. T. Gallagher of the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, D.O.J. Child Exploitation and Obscenity Division Attorney Ben Vernia and D.O.J. Senior Counsel Bruce Taylor.
(This update courtesy of the Concerned Women for America.)
