Fined $75,000 on a profit of $500? Good business model.
Pennsylvania - from www.post-gazette.com - A Warrendale DVD distribution company pleaded guilty to a single obscenity charge today in federal court and must pay a $75,000 fine.
Right Ascension, doing business as Adult DVD Empire, pleaded guilty to mailing obscene matters to undercover FBI agents in Erie on May 29, 2007.
The four films in question, including titles such as "A Bounty of Pain," and "Shattering Crystal," featured torture and bondage, said Attorney Pamela Satterfield, who works for the Department of Justice's Obscenity Task Force.
Though the company could have faced a fine of more than $500,000, the government agreed to reduce that amount to $75,000 because of the small profit the company made from the sale of the DVDs. The profit was less than $500.
John M. Darcangelo, the owner and chief executive officer of the company, appeared in court to enter the plea.
According to his defense attorney, Gary Zimmerman, the company did not intend to break the law, and instead, there was a breakdown in its reviewing system that allowed the obscene films to pass through.
"The films distributed in this case slipped through those guidelines," Mr. Zimmerman said.
In addition to the adult films the company distributes, it also is one of the top distributors of mainstream DVDs in the country, he said.
U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti [pictured] also ordered the company to remain on probation for two years.
from www.pittsburghlive.com - A federal judge today fined a Marshall DVD distribution company $75,000 and placed it on two years' probation for mailing obscene material.
John Darcangelo, 33, owner and CEO of Right Ascension Inc., agreed to have his company plead guilty to the charge and asked for an immediate sentencing. Right Ascension does business as Adult DVD Empire.
Pamela Satterfield, an attorney with the Justice Department's Obscenity Task Force, said four DVDs sent out in May 2007 contained pornographic movies that included sadomasochistic violence that exceeds the contemporary community standards of Erie, where the DVDs were mailed to.
Gary Zimmerman, the company's attorney, said Right Ascension employs 72 people and is one of the largest distributors in the county for both mainstream and adult DVDs. The company screens each movie it receives from the studios and refuses to ships any DVDs it identifies as obscene, he said.
"The films that were distributed in this case slipped through the guidelines," he said.
The company has since tightened its guidelines and has put its screeners through additional training to ensure other obscene material doesn't get distributed by the company, he said.
"This isn't a company that is in the business of trying to push the envelope of the First Amendment," Zimmerman said.
Satterfield confirmed the government agreed to propose the sentence U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed. The company's profit on the DVDs was less than $500, she said.
