Brazil – Seven Americans were arrested in Rio today for shooting porno.

The following is a rough translation from a Brazilian newspaper:

RIO – Accused with aiding prostitution, two Brazilian women and seven men of American nationality were imprisoned, early Tuesday night.

They were photographed in a mansion in Niemeyer Avenue, when they filmed scenes for a ponographic film that would be sold abroad. The action was being investigated by agents of the 36ª precinct (Santa Cruz), who had received numerous anonymous tips that two women were calling people to participate in the filming. In the afternoon of Tuesday, another tip gave the address of the crime and where the group could be found.

The agents went to the mansion, used also as lodging for the Americans, where they found the Americans and the accused women along with six other women who made scenes for the production. Police confiscated three cameras, three lap-tops, a scanner, other film equiptment, business cards, a small amount of marijuana and model releases for the participants of the films. Eight passports were also seized.

The Americans were described as students and entrepreneurs – one of them had a permit to make a series of images of the landscapes of the city.

In article 228 (Aiding of prostitution), the Americans and the two Brazilians can serve two to five years in prison. The prisoners had alleged that in the United States, it is not a crime to make pornô movies and they believed that it was the same in Brazil.

Police however, affirmed that to be unaware of the Brazilian legislation does not exclude them from the applicability of the law. The Americans still will have that to pay a fine, since they participated in prostitution with the purpose to get profit. The films that produced could bring 40 thousand dollars in profit, only in the American market.

The police stated that they were informed of the shoot by an unidentified woman. The woman said that she was invited to participate in the filming and was to be paid $400, but she only received $120 and decided to go to the police. The actresses in the films were all contacted in Rio De Janeiro by people who act as agents for prostitutes and pornô actresses.

The police are continuing the investigation to determine if anybody is involved in international trafficing of prostitutes, for which the penalty is 3 to 8 years,

The six arrested for appearing in the filming told the police that they were only shooting lesbien scenesand were being paid $120 per scene. The Americans, responsible for the filmings, had stated that on Tuesday they only produced film of sex between women. On the Wednesday, they would film images of sex between men and women. The foreigners also said that they would spend 40 days in Brazil making the films.

The two women had been identified as Patrician de Castrate Paes, 28 years, and Heyza Carla Oliveira Queiroz, 27. The two refused to talk about their involvment and how much they received to contact the actors of the film.

The Americans had been identified as David Joseph de Nino, 25, Alfred Eric Spellman, 27, Willian Marcus Cohen, 26, Conrado Gomes Júnior, 39, Steward Lindsay Hopowele, 25, Keith Anthony Ludwigsen, 32, and Willian Wayne Fernandez, 32. They had been taken to the police headquarters, in the Port Zone of the City. The Federal Police also will investigate them.