The indictment charges Ira Isaacs, doing business as Stolen Car Films and LA Media, with four counts of knowingly using an interactive computer service to sell and distribute obscene pictures and films.
The first four obscenity-related counts are in connection with videos entitled “Gang Bang Horse — ‘Pony Sex Game,’” “Mako’s First Time Scat,” “Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7,” and “BAE 20.” The indictment alleges that Isaacs shipped “Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7,” and “BAE 20” outside the state of California.
The videos that allegedly were not properly labeled are “Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7” and “Laurie’s Toilet Show.”
Isaacs specifically was charged with two counts of using a common carrier and interactive computer service for interstate commerce in obscene films; and two counts of distributing movies without the required statement describing where age documentation records could be located.
If convicted, Isaacs could face up to five years in prison for each count in the indictment, according to the Justice Department.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, told XBIZ that “the titles are indicative of the content of the videos.”
“I’m not going to describe the content in any greater detail,” Mrozek said, “because it is quite unsavory.”
Mrozek confirmed that while the indictment alleges that Isaacs shipped videos outside of the state of California, the case will be prosecuted in Los Angeles.
Adult industry attorney Lawrence Walters told XBIZ that the choice of Los Angeles as a venue might be intended to send a message.
“The DOJ strategy here seems to be that they want to show ‘We can prosecute anything, anywhere,’” Walters said. “One would generally assume that Los Angeles would be among the hardest venues to get an obscenity conviction in, so it’s a very interesting strategy.”
Given the allegation that Isaacs shipped to locations outside California, Walters said it is a bit of a surprise that the Justice Department didn’t follow the modus operandi of the Extreme Associates case, and simply ordered Isaacs’ videos to a jurisdiction that presumably would be less tolerant of the content than Los Angeles. In the Extreme Associates case, government agents ordered DVDs from the Extreme Associates website to be delivered to a highly conservative jurisdiction in Pennsylvania.
Walters said that while many in the adult industry might take comfort from the fact that the content involved in the case is more ‘extreme’ than much of the content produced by the industry, it is a false comfort.
“People always want to put distance between themselves and those that are indicted [for obscenity],” Walters said. “It’s a natural psychological reaction, I suppose, but you have to look at the bigger picture: you stand together, or you hang separately.”
According to a press release issued by the Justice Department, the court will issue a summons in the case directing Isaacs to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for arraignment sometime in August.
In addition to jail time, the indictment also seeks the “forfeiture of all obscene materials produced and transported by Isaacs and any proceeds derived from the sale of such materials,” the Justice Department stated in its release.
Among the items that the indictment seeks forfeiture of are three domain names and websites owned by Isaacs, ScatMovies.com, ScatCinemax.com and StolenCarFilms.com.
Isaacs’ attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, was unavailable for comment as of press time.