TAMPA, FL — If Ralph Mervine thought his troubles were over after the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority learned of his internet porn dealings and encouraged him to step down from his position as executive director, he was sorely mistaken. In fact, depending on how his 2257 related paperwork looks, he may remember the civilized Expressway Authority parting fondly.Last Saturday, a day after The Tampa Tribune reported that Mervine might be in violation of federal record-keeping laws, his Coast Productions closed one of its websites and a Yahoo Group.
Although it does not appear that any of Mervine’s models were underage, the newspaper revealed that the address he was listing as belonging to his records custodian was a post office box in San Diego, as opposed to a suite, as claimed. 2257 regulations forbid the use of post office boxes for this purpose. Age-affirming documentation is required to be hosted on the businesses’ physical premises and be available for observation at least 20 hours per week.
Both the CoastProductions.com and CoastGuys.com websites are currently offline, along with their associated Yahoo group, which had been open since August of last year, boasted 1,146 members, included video clips and photos in its file area, and directed potential buyers to the company’s websites. Mervine’s Coast Productions creates and sells hardcore gay DVDs featuring young men between the ages of 18 and 21. When its websites were active, it boasted of hiring the youngest male performers allowed by law and claimed on one DVD that its start appeared in front of the camera the day after his 18th birthday.
Although John Nettles, the owner of the Hillcrest Postal Express in San Diego where Mervine’s correspondences were received, told The Tampa Tribune that someone picks up mail at the box each week, no employee associated with the company was able to identify 55-year-old Mervine when looking at a photo.
According to Nettles, the box, which measures 5.5-inches by 5.5-inches by 14-inches and costs $180 a year, is often referred to by renters as a suite or apartment, which often causes confusion. “They will call and ask for the person and all they have here is a mailbox,” he explained.
Whether the mysterious mail drop checker is the “D. Stone” listed as Coast Productions’ custodian of records is unknown.
Nettles is not the only member of the gay-positive Hillcrest neighborhood with no memory of Mervine, who gave up his $208,000 a year job last week after the Tribune confronted him with his unreported source of income. According to Tribune reporters, visits to nearby adult video shops, including The Todd and XTC Supercenter of North Tampa, revealed not only no Coast Productions DVDs, but no employees who had ever heard of the company or its products.
If found guilty of violating federal 2257 regulations, Mervine, whose company is not incorporated, could serve a minimum of five years in jail. So far only Joseph Francis, famous for his Girls Gone Wild series has been convicted of failing to keep proper age records and for improperly labeling DVDs. Francis and his companies have agreed to pay $2.1 million in fines.
