Rob Black Gets a Year and a Day

gonzo · 07-01-2009

PITTSBURGH — Extreme Associates partners Rob Black and Lizzy Borden will each spend a year and a day in prison as part of their guilty pleas on obscenity charges.

Black, whose real name is Robert Zicari, and his wife, Borden, whose birth name is Janet Romano, also received two years of supervised release at sentencing Wednesday.

They pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute DVDs purchased by an undercover U.S. postal inspector in Pittsburgh.
Defense attorneys contested the government's claim that the material is "sadistic or masochistic" for sentencing purposes but that argument was denied.

Attorney Jennifer M. Kinsley, who represented the pair, submitted a brief to the court earlier this week that asked the court to should sentence them “to probation or, at most, a short period of house arrest.”
Kinsley, in her brief, said that the pair had already paid a steep price with the indictment and six years worth of legal anxiety.

“What was once a thriving film production company grossing over $1 million in annual sales is now defunct and deeply in debt. [Black], a former award-winning director and president of his own company, is similarly bankrupt and unemployed. [Borden] earns meager booking fees for dance performances and other entertainment.

“They are both reliant on the financial assistance of [Black]’s family to subsist. As a result of the deep decline in customer base and industry support this case spawned, [Black] and [Borden] have lost their house to foreclosure and have seen their livelihoods and careers slip away.
“When Extreme Associates, [Black], and [Borden] became the first mainstream adult producers to face federal obscenity prosecution in decades, their once-adoring fans were afraid to purchase the films and wholesalers and distributors were scared to do business with them, lest they too be charged with a crime.”

The case has been waged for much of the decade and began when an undercover U.S. Postal Service inspector bought porn videos through Extreme Associates' membership site, ExtremeAssociates.com, in 2002.
A federal grand jury indicted the couple in August 2003 on 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., mailing obscene or crime-inducing matters and transporting obscene matter for sale.

A federal judge dismissed the case in January 2005, ruling that the anti-obscenity statutes were unconstitutional when applied to Extreme Associates because they violated an individual’s right to privacy. But the Justice Department appealed that ruling before the 3rd Circuit, which overruled the judge.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Extreme’s appeal from the 3rd Circuit, sending the case back for trial. Upon learning of the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case, Zicari said it was “a big fuck you.”

http://www.xbiz.com/news/109994

tony404 · 07-02-2009

This is my thoughts on how the case ended. I will take you back to when I was a young man working as a service advisor for Mercedes. Had a customer a big cancer doctor, he was a really down to earth nice guy. He sat at my desk bullshitting while waiting for an oil change. I said to him do you think they will ever cure cancer. He said no they will control it better but never cure it. I asked him why,he said there is too much money in it.

RawAlex · 07-02-2009

I think they may have all done us a favor in some ways - they plead guilty without a trial, which means there really isn't much for lawyers / judges to work from in the future. Their case was a little (pardon the pun) extreme and could have set standards for all sorts of BDSM material that might have been very restrictive.

When I put this against the Max Hardcore situation, the differences are clear, and now a whole style of porn (which most of us don't like) is pretty clearly obscene.

tony404 · 07-02-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by RawAlex

I think they may have all done us a favor in some ways - they plead guilty without a trial, which means there really isn't much for lawyers / judges to work from in the future. Their case was a little (pardon the pun) extreme and could have set standards for all sorts of BDSM material that might have been very restrictive.

When I put this against the Max Hardcore situation, the differences are clear, and now a whole style of porn (which most of us don't like) is pretty clearly obscene.

Actually it is very bad ,now trailers can be used in obscenity prosecutions. Before it was supposed to be the work as a whole.

EmporerEJ · 07-03-2009

Perhaps we could get a legal opinion from one of the lawyers that frequent here?

07-01-2009	#1
gonzo Fat Fucking Nobody Want to see your own Advertising Here! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Atlanta,Ga. Posts: 17,795 Blog Entries: 11	Rob Black Gets a Year and a Day PITTSBURGH — Extreme Associates partners Rob Black and Lizzy Borden will each spend a year and a day in prison as part of their guilty pleas on obscenity charges. Black, whose real name is Robert Zicari, and his wife, Borden, whose birth name is Janet Romano, also received two years of supervised release at sentencing Wednesday. They pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute DVDs purchased by an undercover U.S. postal inspector in Pittsburgh. Defense attorneys contested the government's claim that the material is "sadistic or masochistic" for sentencing purposes but that argument was denied. Attorney Jennifer M. Kinsley, who represented the pair, submitted a brief to the court earlier this week that asked the court to should sentence them “to probation or, at most, a short period of house arrest.” Kinsley, in her brief, said that the pair had already paid a steep price with the indictment and six years worth of legal anxiety. “What was once a thriving film production company grossing over $1 million in annual sales is now defunct and deeply in debt. [Black], a former award-winning director and president of his own company, is similarly bankrupt and unemployed. [Borden] earns meager booking fees for dance performances and other entertainment. “They are both reliant on the financial assistance of [Black]’s family to subsist. As a result of the deep decline in customer base and industry support this case spawned, [Black] and [Borden] have lost their house to foreclosure and have seen their livelihoods and careers slip away. “When Extreme Associates, [Black], and [Borden] became the first mainstream adult producers to face federal obscenity prosecution in decades, their once-adoring fans were afraid to purchase the films and wholesalers and distributors were scared to do business with them, lest they too be charged with a crime.” The case has been waged for much of the decade and began when an undercover U.S. Postal Service inspector bought porn videos through Extreme Associates' membership site, ExtremeAssociates.com, in 2002. A federal grand jury indicted the couple in August 2003 on 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., mailing obscene or crime-inducing matters and transporting obscene matter for sale. A federal judge dismissed the case in January 2005, ruling that the anti-obscenity statutes were unconstitutional when applied to Extreme Associates because they violated an individual’s right to privacy. But the Justice Department appealed that ruling before the 3rd Circuit, which overruled the judge. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Extreme’s appeal from the 3rd Circuit, sending the case back for trial. Upon learning of the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case, Zicari said it was “a big fuck you.” http://www.xbiz.com/news/109994 __________________ We are putting the bastards of this world on notice; greed and corruption will always be met with "a voice made of ink and rage." "Never try and be like anyone else" - Hunter S. Thompson "The truth is the truth no matter how you try and package a lie" - Shellee Hale

07-02-2009	#2
tony404 Members Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 926	Re: Rob Black Gets a Year and a Day This is my thoughts on how the case ended. I will take you back to when I was a young man working as a service advisor for Mercedes. Had a customer a big cancer doctor, he was a really down to earth nice guy. He sat at my desk bullshitting while waiting for an oil change. I said to him do you think they will ever cure cancer. He said no they will control it better but never cure it. I asked him why,he said there is too much money in it. __________________ www.creamycandy.com yum yum.

07-02-2009	#3
RawAlex Members $100 for every ImLive sign-up Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,036	Re: Rob Black Gets a Year and a Day I think they may have all done us a favor in some ways - they plead guilty without a trial, which means there really isn't much for lawyers / judges to work from in the future. Their case was a little (pardon the pun) extreme and could have set standards for all sorts of BDSM material that might have been very restrictive. When I put this against the Max Hardcore situation, the differences are clear, and now a whole style of porn (which most of us don't like) is pretty clearly obscene. __________________ Let's go to the edge of disaster Push the pedal and go a little faster Let's slam into a wall at ramming speed Let's go to the edge of a mountain Jump off and lets start countin' Hit the ground and tell me if it bleeds

07-03-2009	#5
EmporerEJ Brilliant Innoventionalist and writer. Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: USA, Northern Hemisphere, Terra, 3rd of nine, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy, Far from Galactic Core Posts: 2,260	Re: Rob Black Gets a Year and a Day Perhaps we could get a legal opinion from one of the lawyers that frequent here? __________________ Eric J. White VirtualSexMachine.com