TAMPA, FL – Adult video producer Max Hardcore was convicted Thursday on 10 federal counts of distributing obscenity. He faces jail time and stiff fines, but the jury decided he will not have to forfeit his Altadena, CA, home.
His company, MaxWorld Entertainment, also was found guilty of the 10 related counts with which it had been charged.
Hardcore told AVN he intends to appeal the verdicts.
“It’s a sad day for all Americans when they smash any kind of free speech, and that’s what they did in Tampa today,” he told the adult-industry trade journal. “They trampled on free speech...”
At one point during Thursday’s deliberations, the jury indicated it might be deadlocked. At the very least, according to a question the panel passed to U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew, jurors were not of one mind on 10 of the 20 counts. By the time jurors finally settled on a verdict at 7:00 pm ET after 14 hours of deliberations over two days, however, they had voted for conviction across the board.
After dismissal, several jurors reportedly approached Hardcore and his attorneys and indicated they felt “boxed in” to the conviction by “poorly written” laws regarding transportation of obscene material.
Hardcore and his company were charged with transporting obscenity through the mail and via the internet.
One juror called the verdict “a travesty,” telling AVN the panel “had no choice [except to convict] because of the way the law is written.”
Another reportedly indicated the verdict hung on the application of two words in the obscenity statutes.
Hardcore will be free on bail until sentencing, which is scheduled for September 5th.
Kathee Brewer is an award-winning news, feature and opinion writer, editor and photojournalist. After five years of designing adult and mainstream websites, she spent seven years on staff at AVN Online before departing for the glamorous and financially fulfilling world of full-time freelancing. Food and shelter, she says, are overrated.
