Max Harcore sentenced to prison

Pornographer sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison
By Ben Montgomery, Times Staff Writer
In print: Saturday, October 4, 2008


TAMPA — The pornographer tried to apologize.

His voice shook. He sounded as if he'd cry.

"I didn't realize I'd made a mistake," Hollywood hardcore producer Paul Little told the judge Friday. "My entire life I've been trying to do the right thing by people and by the law."

Senior U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew interrupted him.

"Mr. Little, I find this almost incredible," she said. "You seem to look at this whole thing as a big joke."

Bucklew sentenced the man known as Max Hardcore to 3 years and 10 months in federal prison for selling and distributing his messy, sometimes violent videos in Tampa. She also made him forfeit three Web sites, fined him $7,500, ordered him to face three years of probation after his prison sentence and fined his company, Max World Entertainment, $75,000.

Tampa jurors convicted Little in June on 10 counts of selling obscene material on the Internet and 10 counts of shipping it to Tampa through the U.S. mail.

They reached that decision after watching 8 1/2 hours of extreme porn on a giant screen in court. At times, they winced as Little performed in sex scenes that included urinating and vomiting.

After nearly two weeks of trial and roughly 12 hours of deliberations, jurors decided that what they had seen went beyond the Tampa Bay region's community standards.

Little's attorneys, who argued his films were protected by the First Amendment, said they plan to appeal.

Little, whose net worth was determined by the government to be near $1.4-million, said his business has suffered since his conviction in June.

"It's cost me just about everything I've made," he said. "All of my money is gone. I've suffered a great deal here."

"Are you saying you're not in business?" Bucklew asked.

"I'm barely in business," he said. "It's on life support."

Little apologized for offending the people of Florida.

"This is completely brand new," he said. "For many years we've made our movies thinking they were completely legal."

Bucklew's sentence was on the low end of the federal guidelines used in such cases. Little faced up to 57 months in prison, and the recommended range for fines was between $1.2- and $2.4-million.

"That would appear to be relatively reasonable under the circumstances if you assume that there is any crime for which he should have been sentenced at all," said Eric M. Freedman, professor of First Amendment law at Hofstra University, who wasn't involved with the trial.

Freedman said it's rare that obscenity cases make it to trial, and sentences vary.

A Colorado porn magnate convicted of federal obscenity charges was sentenced in 2006 to 13 months in prison and ordered to close his adult stores in Texas. A federal judge in 2005 sentenced a Florida man to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute obscene videotapes. An Arkansas man this year was sentenced to 14 months and fined $2,000 after he pleaded guilty to attempting to transfer obscene material to someone yunger than 16.

Federal prosecutors wished to send a message to the purveyors of this type of pornography, at a time many small producers are pioneering new material with new technology.

"It becomes a race to the bottom, fueled by the vastness, the speed and the anonymity of the Internet," said Edward J. McAndrew, an assistant U.S. attorney.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article838305.ece

astalavista baby

While the American porn industry is tolerated, Max's movies do go over the top at times. Some of the people he worked with didn't mind the extreme stuff, others found themselves doing more than they had agreed to do. My friend Melissa Ashley took a few years to decide to work with him and yet, despite agreements on what would be part of their perofrmance together, he did more. I think he did that for quite a few models.

In my view, Max f'd up by not being honest with his models about what he wanted to do with them. And then he didn't make sure that what he sold in the USA was allowable. I think Max has got a reasonable sentence based on the traumas he's caused for some of his models

[what a pity that this is my 800th post here, I'd like it to have been on a nicer subject]

I've never cared for this guy's sick version of porn with all the extreme content and I'm glad something stopped it. I don't care how hot his models, I won't watch his videos because I know they will be vile and degrading. It's scary that there was the market to keep it going as long as it did.
The scary aspect is the way the U.S. court system is based on precedent and the fact that this could serve as a legal platform from which to launch attacks on a wider array of porn formats...or all of it.

tzman wrote:

I totally agree. While I don't like his version of porn and he should be charged if he lied to his models, but he still should have a right to film consensual sex in any form.

Obscene can be defined as just about anything and as you said, this trial will be a precedent for the next... What would be obscene in the next trial? Bondage? Fisting? After that, what next? Anal? Sex toys?

-DW

I completely agree with the prior two posters with regards to this setting a dangerous precident.
I'm not sure what he produced is illegal as I am not a lawyer, but surely he could have been smarter and consulted an attorney in Tampa as to the laws surrounding his "art" or "productions".
I am not going to judge him on his style as I believe there are a lot more "extreme" productions out there that far exceed what he's done.
Whatever the case and my opinions, I hope this doesn't open the door to puritanical society and internet here in the USA.

Lastly, whether you enjoy MH's content or not, I worry for the fate of internet porn as we know it and everyone else should, as well.

On a happier note, OJ is guilty on all 12 counts!

Hmmmm, too little, too late.

This little fiasco here will probably make this guy tons more money when he gets out.

I never bought anything from the guys, I have never cared for hardcore stuff. I do agree with him being accused of lying to his performers but this isn't why he is going to jail now is it? The probably with obscenity laws is that its a door that swings both ways. Sure, is good to accuse and censor a guy that pisses on girls and induces them to vomit with his prick but as it has been mentioned on the thread before they will also go against bangbros, and other who hardcore because and call their performers bitches and slap them with their dicks and stuff (you know things which we've all grown to love) Because its obscene and is demeaning to women. In summary the judicial system in the US in a state level has been broken and will always be broke.
On the O.J case. I may be alone in this but i think it was unfair... I mean ****? for less than 6 minutes could mean life in prison could mean life in prison for this guy. Oh and don't tell me that is payback for the murder case because that is not how the judicial system should work. Sending people to jail out of spite is barbaric at best

tzman was the first of several voices of reason. Whether you like his stuff or not, this legal decision is both legally garbage and terrifying looking forward. Florida has been at the forefront of moronic puritanism for decades, what with the average resident of that state having 13 teeth and an IQ of 58 (trust me, I lived there for 11 years).

But if this legally untenable conviction is not overturned on appeal by a panel of judges (not a single right-wing ass in Tampa legislating from the bench) then we are all in trouble because, as mentioned previously, there will now be a legal precedent ready for citation in any frivolous lawsuit regarding the recording and distribution of any activity by two consenting (and legally competent) adults that another person or persons decides they don't like.

Freedom of expression is supposed to be protected the the US Constitution, whether it is to the liking of the entire audience or not. Now, I personally don't care for his abusive treatment of his models, but that is up to them individually to file suit against him if they feel that their treatment crosses a line beyond what they consented to. This blanket decision is not that, and is foolish and incredibly dangerous to all creative work everywhere, particularly now for anyone who uses their work to criticize this government...

billyellis wrote:

Well you take that back young man! Not sure which part of Florida you lived at but where I live things are pretty OK, yes people are not the sharpest but I think that pretty sums up the US in general. But yeah here in flroida make a big deal out of porn. Not sure if you heard of the "bangbus controversy" from back in the day. There really was nothing to complain about, just a legitimate business doing what they have to do, but yeah I catch your drift.

Deity wrote:

I consider this a very poor excuse, ever somewhat gay.

I simply can't believe that someone could be so "innocent" and didn't realize h was doing the wrong thing

Like Max or not what he did was not illegal. He did not make 1.4 million by violating the standards of the nation as a whole. While his videos were gross there was obviously a large audience for them.

What really happened is that he was the victim of a hard core justice department populated by graduates of the Jerry Falwell bible school.

So like him or not this is nothing to rejoice about. It is not that much of a reach from Max Hardcore today to Forumophilia tomorrow.

Yes it was illegal. That is why he's going to prison. Obscenity is determined by your local community, not by national standards.

Deity wrote:
Excellent point and exactly why I pointed out the fact he should have consulted an attorney.
It still doesn't alleviate my fears of this being a dangerous precident.
I don't know if it was the fact he was too cheap to do it - or too stupid.
Next time I bet he takes them 200 miles offshore into international waters...

Thanks for bringing this up Deity, it seems that we're all here for a little more than eye candy (sometimes ).