WWW- Concerned Women for America, CWA, is praising the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for convicting the owner and operator of 27 "adult" porn stores, along with several other individuals who pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including obscenity, fraud, income tax evasion, and racketeering.
The 61-year-old owner and operator, John Kenneth Coil, used front companies in three states to disguise his adult-oriented businesses with names like "Trinity Christians of America" and "Rex Temple." Now, in addition to being convicted, Coil is forfeiting all his business properties within the state of Texas, amounting to more than 20 hard-core pornography stores and 30 pieces of real estate throughout the state, valued at around $9.7 million.
CWA is congratulating the local and federal law enforcement officials involved in making these cases, including police, immigration and customs and Internal Revenue Service agents, prosecutors, and Child Exploitation and Obscenity Division attorneys.
CWA's chief counsel, Jan LaRue, particularly applauds the DOJ for the convictions involving hard-core pornography that was readily available off store shelves. Calling the investigation, arrests and conviction of Coil and the other porn profiteers "great work," LaRue notes, "This case shows that obscenity convictions can be achieved when the material doesn't involve torture, rape and other extremely deviant activities." And, she adds, it lets the porn industry know "that the prosecution bar has been lowered to include off-the-shelf, hard-core porn." CWA is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
From the CWA Files 10/7/2003: John Sutton, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, on September 25, 2003, announced a 30-count indictment of members of the Coil family of Texas and three others on charges including racketeering, obscenity, fraud, tax evasion and forfeiture of property in seven states. The property exceeds $9.7 million that was allegedly involved in the racketeering enterprise.
According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, John Kenneth Coil, 61, of Highland Village, Texas, established an organization in 1981 to own and operate "numerous adult bookstores and arcades which sold and distributed through interstate commerce obscene and pornographic materials" described as including "incest, sado-masochism and child exploitation." Those charged with Coil as part of "the criminal enterprise" include his wife, Paula, 42, of Flower Mound, Texas; daughter, Katherine Dagnino, 34, of Dallas, Texas; son, John Altaire Coil, 23, of Highland Village; and business associates, Curtis Castro, 58, of Dallas, Texas; Charles Phelps, 47, of San Juan, Texas; and Phelps' son, Charles Joseph Phelps, 22, also of San Juan. Charles and Charles Joseph Phelps are still at large.
The indictment and arrests are the culmination of a five-year investigation involving agents with the Immigration and Customs, Internal Revenue Service, FBI, Dallas County District Attorney's Office, Austin Police Department and Child Exploitation Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice.
"Moving in and out of numerous corporate shells, John Kenneth Coil and his enterprise generated millions of dollars from the sale of obscene materials. After decades of disregarding both federal and state laws, Coil and members of his organization face lengthy federal prison terms upon their conviction under the RICO statute," Sutton stated.
According to Adult Video News legal affairs correspondent Mark Kernes, John Kenneth Coil has ties to Edward Wedelstedt, who took over the pornography empire of the late "King of Porn," Reuben Sturman. According to Kernes, in 2000 federal agents served search warrants on Wedelstedt's "Goalie" warehouses in Denver, Memphis, Dallas, Austin and Los Angeles.
"Unconfirmed reports," according to Kernes, "say the raid's impetus was an earlier action against certain video stores in Austin, Texas, reportedly owned by John Coyle [Coil]. At that time, the reports said, marshals were looking for copies of the DarkSide Entertainment video "Sugar Two," an early 1999 release which was recalled by its manufacturer in late April 2000 after reports surfaced that one of the actresses in the video was underage."
Items reported to be included in the search warrants served on "Goalie" in 2000 were:
Books, records (including computer-stored records), receipts, notes, memoranda, correspondence, telephone address books, ledgers, adding machine tapes, bank records, money orders, credit card records, tax returns, cashier's checks and other financial records, including but not limited to, deed records, mortgage applications and notes, loan agreements, liens, title company data, rental/lease agreements, escrow agreements, financial statements, collateral records, life or property insurance policies, wills, trust agreements, and other data pertaining to the ownership or control of personal assets, liabilities, income and expenses of Edward J. Wedelstedt, Vivian Schough Wedelstedt, Robert Depiano, James Ray Greentree, James Edward Greentree, John Kenneth Coil, Leroy Moore, and Beverly Kay Vandusen. [Emphasis added].
Although the investigation began under the Reno DOJ, its successful completion and prosecution are in the hands of the Ashcroft DOJ. We congratulate them and wish them every success. The question remains, however, what about Mr. Big?
We asked DOJ whether further indictments related to the Coil case are anticipated. We received the following response from John G. Malcolm, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division of DOJ: "Regarding your inquiry, it would be inappropriate for us to comment about any ongoing investigations. We are, however, continuing to actively investigate those who produce and disseminate obscene material, and trust that some of those investigations will culminate in federal charges being filed in the months ahead."
"This is only a piece of this case," Vincent Klink, resident agent in charge of the bureau's Austin office, where the investigation is centered, told the San Antonio News-Express. "There are 100 subjects (under investigation). There will be an additional indictment and additional defendants."
