Online

Website Operator Pleads Guilty to Obscenity Charge

By: Eddie Adams

Posted: 06/08/2007

WASHINGTON - A Brazilian website operator has been charged with one count of conspiracy to use the mail for delivery of obscene material in a U.S. District Court in Orlando. Danilo Simoes Croce of Sao Paulo, an officer of Lex Multimedia, pleaded guilty to the obscenity-related charge on Wednesday.

Croce was indicted by a federal grand jury in Orlando in 2006, and was arrested shortly thereafter during a visit to the Florida city.

According to a recently published report, Croce agreed to pay a fine of $2,000 and forfeit $98,000 in cash as part of his guilty plea. The Justic Department has said that Croce will also forfeit to the government all equipment and materials connected with his business operations in Florida, all copies of certain obscene films in the company's possession, and all Internet domain names used by Lex Multimedia.

Croce admitted that his company operated various websites promoting the sale of adult videos. Although the sites were hosted on offshore servers, the employees were located in the Orlando area fulfilling the orders placed on the sites. Payments were then transferred to Brazil.

The case is being prosecuted by the Department of Justice's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force and the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida. Croce faces up to five years in prison.