Texas- The owner of 27 adult-oriented businesses in several cities was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison on Friday in connection with a racketeering, obscenity, fraud and income tax evasion scheme, according to federal authorities.
John Kenneth Coil, 61, was sentenced as a result of his guilty plea. In addition to a jail sentence, he was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, forfeit an estimated $8.1 million in property to the government and be placed under supervised release for three years.
"[Coil] has been a long time pornography merchant who has made millions selling obscenity and cheating on his taxes," says Johnny Sutton, United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
Coil agreed to turn over more than 20 stores to the government; most of the stores will be torn down. The stores are located in several Texas cities, including Austin, Round Rock, San Antonio, Waco, Dallas and Houston. He also forfeited several pieces of vacant property.
Coil admitted to federal authorities that he used front companies to run the pornography stores in Texas, Louisiana and other states.
Federal officials say Coil also skimmed money from those stores and failed to disclose the actions on his tax returns. The total tax loss was $4.5 million between 1981 and 2003.
In addition to Coil, seven other co-defendants also were sentenced in the case with penalties ranging from probation to 42 months in federal prison.
