Russell Hampshire presided over one of porn's biggest and most respected production company VCA, which did over $20 million worth of business in 1996. He sold it to LFP in 2003.

A man with a fiery temper, Russ grew up in reform schools before joining the military. He earned a bronze medal in the infantry in Vietnam. Returning to America he worked assembly line jobs until graduating in 1978 from McDonald's Hamburger University in Chicago. He moved to Los Angeles and applied the McDonalds philosophy to the distribution of videotapes.

"Everything I learned about porno, I learned at McDonalds," he told journalist Harris Gaffin. "Everything was timed, little margin for deviation. When I worked at McDonalds, we had a certain temperature for the French fries. We had a precise temperature for the grill for the meat. This is the way it was done - we even measured the Coke by the ounce." (Hollywood Blue)

Russ told the 10-98 AVN: "What they [McDonald's] teach you - inventory control, things of that nature - you can probably use to run any business. I don't know how many people in the adult business, for instance, know about turning your inventory. But having good cash flow means you turn your inventory over quite a few times. Most businesses turn their inventory over six or seven times a year. We turn ours over 10, 12, 13 times a year.

"There's an old saying in the adult industry that people have what they call a 90/10 rule. 90% in the pocket, 10% back in the business. Well, we have the opposite. We believe 90% in the business, 10% in the pocket.

"We not only invest in our people, we invest in our premises, our plants, our facilities. We invest in new equipment: state-of-the-art editing equipment, digital cameras and the like."

Russ takes pride in VCA's pristine work environment. "You walk into this building, it's just like any other business. And just like any other business, I want to create an atmosphere where people want to come to work, which in turn, creates more productivity, more efficiency."

"He runs his business that way, very militant McDonald's style," says Russ's wife Betty. "Some people find it old-fashioned, a little condescending, maybe. But it works." (Hollywood Blue)

With Walter Gernert in 1978, Russ shipped videotapes that his boss Chuck Bernstein had pirated. The three were busted in the MIPORN investigation though that didn't stop Russ and Walter from starting in 1978 Video Corporation of America.

Hampshire appealed his MIPORN case all the way to the US Supreme Court, and ended up with only a misdemeanor for copyright violation.

Russ's marriage to Betty appears happy. It is his third. His second wife works for Michael Esposito.

Book Says Russ Tried to Whack Walter

A 1998 book alleges that VCA owner Russ Hampshire tried to hire a Mafia hitman to whack his partner of the time Walter Gernert.

Hampshire totally denies the story. But I've spoken to a source who's heard the tape. And I understand that the tape of Hampshire's request for a hit is still in the possession of former Mafia muscleman Anthony Fiato.

I quote from page 134 of The Animal in Hollywood: Anthony Fiato's Life in the Mafia by John L. Smith, published 1998 by Barricade Books, New York. Fiato:

"After I bailed out Harvey Ross [aka Harvey Rosenthal, long time employee of Russ Hampshire who died of cancer in 1994, thief, assisted in the 1982 murder of actor Frank Christi with pornographers and dupers Alan Betts and Ronald Coe who are associates of Robert Zeichick aka Puggy, criminal, thief, pornographer], he started coming to the club regularly and told me all about the pornographers he knew. Now Harvey's acting like one of my crew… He tells me he's working for a place called the American Video Library for Russ Hampshire, who Harvey says wants to have somebody killed. Russ realized who I [LA mafia enforcer Anthony Fiato] was and knew me by reputation, and he's also good friends with Michael Esposito. Russ knew that Harvey [Rosenthal] was friendly with me, and he [Russ Hampshire] brought up this deal to Harvey that his partner, Walter [Gernert], was throwing away the business by doing so much cocaine. Harvey came back and told me that Russ had told him he wanted to have his partner [Walter Gernert] killed.

"So I send Harvey to Radio Shack for a seventy-eight-dollar pocket recorder and arrange a meeting with Russ. I told Harvey, 'Get him [Hampshire] alone again and get him to repeat what he'd said. Harvey goes to the meeting, follows him into the men's room, and asks him if he was really sure he wanted to go through with this. Harvey gets him to say he wants his motherf---ing partner dead and is willing to pay Anthony fifty-thousand to do the job. Half up front and half when it's done. We take the half up front.

"After Harvey met with him, we made another meet, this time at the Tail O' Pop on La Cienega [Blvd]. Harvey, Puggy, John Di Mittia and I were at the meeting. When Russ walked in I could see the fear on his face. He only expected to be meeting me [Fiato] and Harvey [Rosenthal]. Russ was carrying a briefcase and sat down. He appeared to know everybody at the table. I told Harvey to take out the tape and play it for him.

"Russ's eyes almost popped out of his head like a frog. I gave him the tape. I said, 'Here, you're lucky this came to my attention because this motherf---er Harvey was going to blackmail you.' He was so happy, he slid the briefcase over in the booth and handed over twenty-five thousand cash, just like that. We're not going to kill anybody for this guy. And we don't have to. He can't go to the cops. He can't do anything. It was sweet.

"When he [Hampshire] left, we just laughed. I'd had Harvey make six copies of that f---ing tape. Russ kept paying for two years until finally after the fifth or sixth time he turned his pockets inside out and said, 'All I've got left is lint. Tell Walter, tell the cops. Tell anybody you want. I don't care what you do.' "At that point we'd taken thousands from the guy and we didn't need to hurt anyone."

Luke found this story 12/24/98 and immediately phoned Russ at home. Russ completely denied it but asked me to keep it off my site. I said I would hold off running it. I needed to investigate it more.

My emails to the author, Las Vegas Review Journal columnist John Smith, went unreturned. Over the past six months, I've asked various porners about the Russ - Walter story. Several said they had heard of it, most said they had not. Russ's friends did not believe the story and Russ's enemies did.

When I relayed this story to Walter Gernert at the January 1999 CES, he appeared genuinely shocked and said he had not heard of it. At the time, Walter and I were having an intense heart-to-heart conversation in Russ Hampshire's office in the VCA CES booth. Russ stood outside looking through the window to make sure nothing bad happened to me.

...................................

"I've never made a film in my life," Russ told Adult Video News in 1994. "I don't know which end of the camera to look at, so I hire people that know production."

VCA began as a videotape distributor, the biggest according to Hampshire who owned the company with drug dealer Walter Gernert. Four years after the first consumer-model videocassette recorders started filtering into the marketplace, VCA began to buy films and release them to videotape. VCA's first production was Cafe Flesh in 1982.

Rinse Dream's movie is about as far out as VCA will go. The company avoids fetish videos. "We aim for a mainstream audience," says Hampshire.

In 1984, Tony Lovett (who also directs adult videos and works in mainstream) came on board and within a few years took charge of production.

"The way production would work is, someone would bring a project to me," explains Lovett, whose email address begins "EXPLOIT."

"I would look it over, find out who the director would be, and the stars, and if I thought it was viable, I would bring it to Russell for the final okay on the budget."

Walter Gernert sold out his share of VCA in the late '80s. Since 1994, he's lived in Brazil.

When every video production company (save Vivid and Caballero) turned to videos because of the cost of film production, VCA released several feature films per year through 1994.

In 1991, VCA, Russ, and several of his employees were indicted on obscenity charges in Alabama. In the eventual plea bargain, the company paid two million dollars worth of fines, and Hampshire spent a year in prison. His staff received suspended sentences and probation.

"His minions carry out his philosophy of the company to a high degree," Lovett told the 12-94 AVN. "He found out when he was away that the mentality of the company is his, imbued in his employees..."

VCA sells cable rights to over 85% of its straight products. As of 4-98, its contract girls included Juli Ashton, Stacy Valentine, Kylie Ireland, Nikita and Vicca.

"The business today is nowhere near as lucrative as it used to be," Hampshire told the 10-98 AVN. In the early '80s he sold wholesale copies of the Marilyn Chambers classic Insatiable for $60 each, whereas now his tapes sell wholesale in the $13-$15 range.

Since VCA's brush with the feds, it has toned down its product, much to the dismay of porn fans such as RAME's Imperator. Once a pillar of quality porn, he writes, with the rights to most of the classics and the best directors, including Gregory Dark and John Leslie, VCA has turned bland and pretentious.

"It's not just the Sex, Latex and Shock disasters; it's Leslie and Dark's departures, the unending and mind-numbing hype, the plastic, and, most of all, the spineless self-censorship of anything that might be considered remotely offensive. If there's a company that can afford to combat a nuisance obscenity lawsuit, it's VCA... VCA wants to squeeze the last cent out of the fan with minimum risk. They did not withdraw the offensive tapes from circulation after all, they chopped them abruptly and re-released them without any warning on the box."

VCA tapes begin with obnoxious messages wrapped in the American flag about fans having a moral obligation to defend their rights to jerk off.

"That said, VCA is no Leisure Time rip-off. The technical qualities of its major productions are impeccable. And their latest endeavor, VCA Platinum Plus, gives feature films containing at least six sex scenes and over 100 minutes long, frequently demonstrating some heat.

"Juli Ashton is the hottest item in the contemporary sex scene and VCA is wise enough to capitalize on her potential. Every VCA tape gives her fan club information. Work her relentlessly, VCA. Refuse her a moment's rest. I want at least 100 movies out of this incredible creature, and I want them NOW. Gimme, gimme, gimme." (Imperator)

Rame moderator Brad Williams: "I think the porn industry would want it on the fringe to avoid prosecution of producers, directors, and performers that aren't usually targeted, and to keep porn as closed as possible. If you get new money and new blood involved, most of the Hirsch-Hampshire crowd would be looking for another line of work. Look at all the changes this decade that have taken dollars out of these guys' pockets: the amateur craze that VCA and Vivid missed by a mile, interracial-theme flicks that are big sellers, and the emergence of Stagliano/Collins E-Empire. Now that Collins and Stagliano are split, the old-guards have two companies that are going to kick their ass in sales. Private is also heavily distributed in America now also. While Hirsch and Hampshire have fiddled, Rome has started falling apart.

"…The "old guard" of mediocrity wants to keep you ignorant. As always, "an educated porn consumer is the industry's worst nightmare." I cherish one day in the future when Vivid, VCA, Zane, Leisure Time, etc. are nothing more than bit players. It's already happening now." (RAME)

Screenwriter Martin Brimmer penned numerous VCA videos. He feels troubled by the harsher edge of the gonzo trend. "The Matt Zanes, Johnny Toxics, Rob Blacks have no history in this business. They haven't had to endure the legal challenges and subpoenas and scrutiny. They have no appreciation for the Russ Hampshires, Al Goldsteins… People who have done time.

"I was one who sat there for a year after Russell went to jail, to review Russ's stock [VCA] in 1993. We had our list of seven deadly sins - coercion aka rape, bestiality, urination, defecation, S-M, underage inferences, violence with sex… If you're doing a Miami Vice rip off about a gun battle in the marina, that's fine so long as people aren't f---ing in the middle of it.

"I wrote up a report on each film. If there was objectionable content, I made a note of the time code and what the content was. Then the judgement was made within VCA whether that scene should be excised or not.

"We were reactionary. There are some films we were too quick to cut... Such as a couple of minutes out of Café Flesh where Max is being dragged out of the cafe to be killed. And there was nothing wrong with that…

"But when you start getting back into rape scenarios, urination… You are crossing into the lines that get people in jail.

"Just because things are relaxed now… I had to write a flyer for a gay release called FAMILY VALUES. A wonderfully produced and acted film about a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality by learning that his father used to be a gay porn star. So he tracks down his father and sleeps with him. Incest!

"The title alone is a red flag… Then they backed it up with incest. I advised the client to not carry the movie, especially in mail order. His response to me: 'This isn't the days of the Meese Commission.' That tells me where these people's minds are at."

Luke: "Is your objection that these people could be fined and go to jail, and lose money, or that this material is truly obscene?"

Martin: "That's a damn good question. Sometimes, like the Rob Black stuff, anything involving rape, or crossing the lines with religion, I find personally offensive… My main concern most of the time is for the client, that they don't run the risk of going to jail."

Luke: "Clinton has been good for pornographers."

Martin: "Oh yeah. Check out the Morality in Media home page. They compare the prosecutions under the Reagen-Bush era with the Clinton era. They're trying to draw some correlation between Clinton and the rise of pornography. And they're probably right.

"Since February, I've been concerned about the HIV outbreak becoming inevitable. That correlates with where the marketplace is going. I screen anywhere between 40-100 titles a month. When I'm not writing and producing movies, I'm generating advertising copy for Voyages Catalogue Group out of the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the biggest mail order houses. They used to be part of Dechtar Direct which has gone under. Now they are owned by Terry Hess. I screen product for them for compliance and content.

"And what I've been witnessing in the gonzo over the past year, has been the desire to get even more hedonistic, animalistic and out there… These horrendously numerical gangbangs… The gaping assholes. The double anal penetrations without condoms. You didn't have to be a physician to figure this out…"

Hampshire aggressively investigates reports of pirating of VCA product. In 1989, he heard about the production of 40,000 cardboard sleeves containing titles and scenes from productions by VCA Laboratories. But VCA had not ordered anything.

Russ put a private investigator on the one ton shipment and trailed it to Los Angeles International airport.

"We had a private investigator on the dock at Eastern Airlines, helping the guy unload the truck," Hampshire recalled with a laugh. (Kansas City Star, 10/20/91)

The detective found on the shipping bill the signature: Nick F. Agrusa of Video Midwest Inc.

A father of two who'd gone from selling donuts to real estate, Agrusa created the video distributor Video Midwest Inc in 1986. Investigators believed that the company used such other names as NF Enterprises, MegaMovies, the Small Package Shipping Co. and Essex Midwest. Federal investigators believed Agrusa had ties to Kansas City's reputed crime boss, Anthony "Ripe" Civella.

When he heard that Hampshire was working with the FBI, Agrusa flew to Los Angeles and quizzed one of Hampshire's colleagues in the pornography industry. Agrusa allegedly warned that, if he discovered Hampshire had been cooperating, Hampshire was "history." The FBI considered Hampshire's life in danger.

Asked by the Kansas City Star about the alleged threat on his life, Hampshire declined to give details.

"You're asking me to answer questions now that could put me in danger," he said. "I don't want to open my mouth, insert foot, and have someone banging on my door, trying to break my head in. I've gone through that before." (Kansas City Star, 10/20/91)

Agrussa died in the summer of 1991 of a gunshot to the head.

12/7/98

AVN's nominations are out and numerous people are upset. I talked late Thursday afternoon with Max Hardcore who, I hear, did not receive one nomination. Max has contempt for AVN, and for the past year has sent them no videos or chromes. Max has asked AVN to not write about him. He despises them.

I have an interview scheduled with AVN publisher Paul Fishbein for Monday to get his perspective.Email Luke F-rd with your questions for Paul. I've been flooded with challenging information.

I talked Friday morning with Russ Hampshire who was annoyed with many of the derogatory comments I have on this page below. For someone who spends about $160,000 a year advertising in the mag, he sure did not get many nominations (about three).

Russ: "I didn't get much. One for Cafe Flesh - Best Video. And Love's Passion for Best Film..."

Luke: "That's not very good if you're lining Paul Fishbein's pockets."

Russ: "Well, you ought to investigate and check and see... Did you look and see what the nominations were?"

Luke: "No."

Russ: "Well, you should check it before you write s---."

Luke: "I didn't write anything [except quote some folks]."

Russ, his voice rising with annoyance: "You wrote this according to what somebody said. If somebody believed the moon was yellow, would you go out and look at it or just write it?"

Luke is stumped. He's not sure.

Russ: "That's my whole point Luke. When you write stuff to be controversial, that's fine. But when it comes to me, I don't appreciate it. You put my name down there without investigating things. Look at the nominations and you judge. You know good and well... How do I line Paul Fishbein's pockets?"

Luke, pulling a spoon of porridge out of his mouth: "Buying lots of ads."

Russ: "Did I get any nominations to deserve the amount of ads I put in there?"

Luke: "I haven't even looked at the nominations."

Russ: "Well, why don't you look and see? Then you could point out that he [Russ] doesn't get many nominations for the amount of ads he takes."

Luke: "No."

Disturbed, Luke pushes away his porridge.

Russ speaking rapidly: "That's my whole point. That negates what that jerk said."

Luke: "Yeah, ok."

Russ: "That's what good journalism is. You investigate. You think about things."

Luke: "You know lots of people say this [AVN Awards are fixed]."

Russ: "What kind of nominations do I get? I get diddly squat. What have I won lately?"

The meta-message that Russ is speaking to is the suspicion by many that the porn industry is dominated by a trinity - Vivid, VCA and AVN.

Luke: "I'm simply repeating what some of the non-condom folks say."

Russ: "Cafe Flesh 2, Forbidden Woman, Intimate Exposure... These are all condom [optional] movies...[Some scenes have condoms and other don't.] I have such a backlog of condom [optional] movies that I am only now putting out my condom-only movie. So, where is this guy saying that movies that don't use condoms don't get nominated?"

Luke: "Some of the harder core folks, the Extremes..."

Russ: "Maybe their stuff wasn't worth nominating. Do you expect that hardcore stuff to win Best Video of the Year?"

Luke: "I dunno."

Russ: "Luke, don't sit there and play your games with me, all right? You know good and well that when it comes to Best Video or Best Film, that these are high budget items. Are these guys who don't use condoms going to spend $50-60,000 [to make one movie]?"

Luke: "I can't think of anyone."

Russ: "That's my point."

Luke: "Did you put pressure on Paul [Fishbein] to restrict awards to the no-condom people?"

Russ: "Listen. Do you even know how the submission system works? Debbie Rubio [VCA PR] submits all the stuff that could win. I don't even see them. I don't pay attention."

Luke: "Right, but have you and Paul..."

Russ: "Listen. I don't do things like that. Paul has his integrity. I would never compromise his integrity. If I was going to compromise his integrity do you not think that I would have more nominations?"

Luke: "Maybe, or maybe you just want to make sure that Rob Black doesn't have any?"

Russ laughs derisively. "Listen. If he gets nominated, more power to him."

Luke: "Would you lose sleep at night if Rob Black..."

Russ: "No, I would not lose sleep at night...Did I lose sleep last time [Rob won two big AVN awards]? No. He made a mockery of himself by going up on the stage... I need say no more."

Luke: "Come on, say some more."

Russ: "You're trying to get bullets to shoot at everybody. A true journalist would analyze what these people say. And look into the whole situation."

Luke: "Has there been any conferencing between VCA and Vivid..."

Russ (speaking quietly and firmly): "There has been no conferencing between Steve Hirsch and myself to get the non-condom people not nominated. I have better things to do with my time. Do you understand that?"

Luke, with a sigh, "yeah." There goes his conspiracy theory.

Russ: "I can't concern myself with who is and who isn't nominated. I have my own business to run, etc... And you know that too, Luke. You know that. You know deep inside your heart that that is true."

Luke: "Ahh, yeah, it probably is. Can I come on the Marilyn Chambers shoot next week?"

Russ: "I don't know. I'll have to ask Janey [Hamilton]. When you print stuff like this I don't know if I even want you on the set. I'm just teasing.

"Luke, I understand what you've got to do. I resent that people think things like that."

Luke: "Why do you think so many of the harder edge folks believe that [that powers VCA, Vivid and AVN have conspired against them]?"

Russ: "Don't the harder-edged people claim that their product sells better than anything else? So why do they care if they get nominated or not? Supposedly condoms hurt sales. So I'm a schmuck, right?"

Luke: "So if you get an award, does it make much difference in your sales?"

Russ: "Not really."

Luke: "Does it help your self-esteem?"

Russ: "Do I look like I need help with my self esteem?"

Luke was just projecting. In reality, Luke is annoyed that he didn't receive any AVN awards to bolster his fragile sense of self.

Responding to Rob Black's charges that VCA tried to steal his name "Extreme" for their new gonzo line, first called "VCA Extreme" now called "VCA Explicit," Russ said: "If I wanted to steal his name, why would I have bothered to have talked to his attorney and asked him to talk to my attorney to see what was going on?

"I called Rob's attorney and explained to him what I wanted to do... My attorney informed me that we could probably use the name but it was not worth the hassle [of fighting]. They [Extreme] offered me the name VCA Explicit... If I was a "cocksucker" and a "prick" who wanted to steal his name, why would I have bothered to go about it that way?

"You don't see me calling you and saying that all these people are pieces of sh-t."

Luke: "You're welcome to."

Russ: "Now, I know that you are going to put all this stuff on your net. I want to see it before you put it on there, do you understand me? To make sure that you don't embellish some of it.

"Luke, if you want to gain the confidence of people, you're going to have use some discretion at times."

Luke's been calling around the industry to get reactions to the AVN nominations. He's particularly seeking out those who angry as they make more interesting copy. Luke has yet to see any hard evidence that the AVN awards are fixed. He simply finds it interesting that many porners do believe that.

Most of the no-condom folks are particularly annoyed at their lack of nominations. They whisper that AVN publisher Paul Fishbein has stacked the deck against them. "The word is that Fishbein," says a porner who wants to stay anonymous, "whose pockets are heavily lined by Russ Hampshire [VCA owner and staunch condom - FSC - AVN supporter], has said that there is no way that we are going to have a repeat of the awards last year [where Rob Black won two big awards]. Fishbein struck lots of us [no-condom shooters] from getting nominations. He's laughing all the way to the bank."

1/18/01

I talked to VCA owner Russell Hampshire this afternoon about various reports on Gene Ross. It was our first conversation in almost two years.

Luke: "Did you see Gene RossExtreme.com today?"

Russ: "Yeah, about me calling somebody the N word? I don't do things like that. I don't think you have ever heard me use any kind of language like that ever. You've never heard me use language like that."

Luke: "That's correct."

Russ: "I called Gene and told him so. It is not representative of me as an individual."

Luke: "John Bone told Gene Ross that VCA is in a panic and that VCA has pulled 400 titles."

Russ: "Who's John Bone?"

Luke: "The British guy John Bowen."

Russ: "I don't know him."

Luke: "He's a good friend of Gene's."

Russ: "I haven't pulled anything."

Luke: "Are you in a panic?"

Russ: "Why would I be in a panic?"

Luke: "John Ashcroft."

Russ: "I'm concerned about him being elected. I'm concerned about any Republican being elected but this is something that we will deal with as we go along."

Luke: "Are you making significant changes as Gene published on his site?"

Russ: "What am I going to do? You've always seen my boxcovers. They are soft. What changes do I have to make? What I am doing is looking to see what I have and if I have any problems with any of my material, then I will make the decision as to what to do with it then. Simple."

Luke: "It does look like people are making changes and this is fairly significant."

Russ: "I don't know about other people."

Luke: "Have you come to any decision on changing..."

Russ: "Business as usual."

Luke: "What do you think about Gene Ross leaving AVN after all these years and making serious allegations about the integrity of AVN?"

Russ: "That's none of my business. That is their concern. I know nothing about any of it. I don't get involved. Simple."

Luke: "You won so many DVD awards Tuesday. Who runs your DVD division?"

Russ: "I do. It's the quality we put in."

XXX Porn Insider says: "Russell Hampshire is almost illiterate. He can barely write a complete sentence. I couldn't believe it when I saw his letter."

Luke says: I've talked to Russ many times and he's always struck me as a sharp guy. I've heard him read my column out loud so I know he can read. As for his literary output, well, he's no Bill Shakespeare.

Kevin Beechum, Russell Hampshire's Role In Reuben Sturman Bombing Affair

5/18/01

ARGUED JANUARY 4, 1995--DECIDED MARCH 14, 1995 Before BAUER, and MANION, Circuit Judges, and MILLER, District Judge.

Reuben Sturman was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion, attempted extortion, and travel in interstate commerce for the purposes of com- mitting extortion. 18 U.S.C. secs. 1951, 1952. He contends on appeal that the trial court proceeding was fraught with error and asks, on that basis, that we reverse his con- viction or at least vacate portions of his sentence. We find his arguments unpersuasive, and so we affirm.

I. From his home state of California, Reuben Sturman operated a nationwide wholesale and retail adult entertainment business for over thirty years. His power and influence was such that many in the industry believed that he was the industry. Sturman had substantial control over distribution of adult videos and magazines and marital aids. A significant portion of his income came from small operators located throughout the United States, who paid Sturman for supplies or services in organizing and run- ning local enterprises. Sturman's fiery relationship with operators in Phoenix, Cleveland, and Chicago led to the prosecution of this case.

Tamara Green took over the ownership and operation of the Book Cellar, a chain of several adult book stores in Phoenix, Arizona, after her husband, Howard, the store's previous owner, passed away in 1990. The Book Cellar leased peep show video equipment from Sturman. Soon after taking over the business, Green learned that, for several months, her husband had been paying Sturman twice the amount called for in the lease agreement. Green instructed her accountant to suspend all payments until October of 1991 when the accumulated credit would be exhausted and at which point they could resume payment at the contract rate.

Sturman was not particularly pleased with Green's decision. On several occasions in the fall of 1991, Sturman told Green's accountant and general manager that unless Green paid him the additional money, he would "send her a message." In November of 1991, Herbert Feinberg, an employee of Sturman's, asked Kevin Beechum to hire some people "to smash a bookstore in Phoenix, Arizona." Beechum hired Jay Brisette, Donald Mares, and Paul Mahn and instructed them to vandalize one of Green's stores because she wasn't paying the money which she owed. On December 21, 1991, Brisette, Mares, and Mahn entered Green's store with hammers and baseball bats and pro- ceeded to cause approximately $10,000 in property dam- age. Convinced that this was Sturman's "message," Green resumed paying Sturman at a monthly rate twice that of the agreement. Sturman's secretary testified that when she asked Sturman why Green had resumed paying the higher rate, he replied, "I sent her a message and she understood."

Mel Kamins had been associated with Sturman since 1955. In 1986, Kamins purchased several Cleveland adult entertainment businesses from Sturman. His agreement with Sturman required Kamins to make monthly payments ranging between $60,000 and $90,000 for ten years to Sturman or Sturman's nominees.

In the meantime, the IRS had discovered that Sturman was significantly delinquent on his prior tax obligations. Consequently, the IRS served upon Kamins and others owing obligations to Sturman, tax levies directing those persons to pay directly to the IRS any money owed to Sturman.

After Kamins began complying with the levy, Sturman contacted Kamins in an effort to persuade him to ignore the levy and continue the payments. Alternatively, Sturman urged Kamins to skim his profits and pay Sturman in cash. Kamins refused.

Sturman proceeded to hire a man named James Long to investigate the level of security at Kamins's stores. Long had performed security-oriented work for Sturman in the past. Sturman told Long that Kamins had not been paying Sturman what he owed. Later that month (February 1992), Sturman and Long visited Kamins's store. When Kamins again insisted on honoring the IRS levy, Sturman wrote Kamins a note which read, "You are going to get a message." Though nothing ever was done to Kamins or his business, Feinberg did discuss with Kevin Beechum the possibility of hiring Beechum's men to do a few more jobs in Cleveland. It appears as if the only thing that saved Kamins from a fate similar to that of Green were the developments taking place in Chicago.

Roy May and his wife, Paula, owned and operated several adult entertainment businesses in Chicago. They had an arrangement with Sturman that entitled Sturman to a certain percentage of the profits received from their peep show receipts. Under this arrangement, the Mays typically delivered to one of Sturman's nominees a cash payment ranging from $60,000 to $100,000 every four to six weeks. This portion of the Mays' revenues was never reported to the IRS. Sturman frequently demanded that in addition to the payments, the Mays give him title to half of their real estate holdings, the purchase of which Sturman had absolutely nothing to do with. Understandably, the Mays refused these demands.

In 1987, Paula May was indicted for tax evasion. Subsequently, Roy May ceased making the payments to Sturman. Sturman then suggested that May pay Sturman the money through a consulting arrangement. Although he received no benefit from this arrangement, May consented to the deal for fear that if he did not, Sturman would ruin him financially. During the term of the consulting contract, May resumed his profit-skimming cash payments to Sturman, albeit at a lower rate.

In 1988, Roy May refused to renew the consulting con- tract. Again, however, his fear of what Sturman might do to him and his business caused him to agree to pay Sturman $3.7 million for the rights to show adult films produced by Sturman's new company, Wild Man Films Inc., despite knowing that these films were worth no more than $200,000. May never used these films.

When the IRS began sending tax levies to Sturman's various debtors, Sturman suggested that he and May cancel their Wild Man Films contract so that May would have nothing to pay to the IRS. They did so but soon thereafter, Sturman began pressuring May to resume paying him. Sturman asked May to start making payments to a company named Video Views, which Sturman insisted could not be traced to Sturman. Reluctant to violate the IRS levy, May refused.

In the spring of 1992, Feinberg once again hired Brisette and his men, this time for a job in Chicago. After the financial arrangements were completed, Brisette and three others, Donald Mares, Paul Mahn, and Joseph Martinez, flew to Chicago. They intended to plant several remote- controlled bombs at eight of May's Chicago stores. After successfully planting a bomb at the first site, Mares and Mahn were travelling to a store on Wells Street when one of their bombs detonated in their car at the intersection of Dearborn and Division streets. Mahn fled the scene. Mares died as a result of injuries sustained in the explosion.

After hearing about the explosion, Brisette and Martinez aborted their efforts and together with Mahn, returned to Los Angeles. From there, the plan continued to unravel.

Still panicked from what had happened in Chicago, Brisette began to cooperate with the FBI. As part of his co- operation, Brisette participated in a tape-recorded conversation with Feinberg. The FBI then approached Feinberg and asked him to cooperate in a case against Sturman. Feinberg refused and then went to meet with Russell Hampshire, another figure in the California adult entertainment industry and a friend of Sturman's. In his conversation with Hampshire, Feinberg stated that he had been hired by Sturman to damage some stores in Chicago and that one of the people involved was killed. Feinberg asked Hampshire to assure Sturman that Feinberg would not cooperate with the police as long as Sturman helped him with his legal fees. When Hampshire passed on Feinberg's message, Sturman told Hampshire that he would take care of Feinberg's legal fees. A few months later, Sturman transferred $25,000 from his account to an account held by Feinberg's attorney.

Sturman and Feinberg were indicted together but tried separately. Sturman was convicted on Counts One, Seven, and Eight of a ten-count indictment. Count One charged Sturman and Feinberg with conspiring to commit extortion with respect to Green, Kamins, and the Mays. 18 U.S.C. sec. 1951. Count Seven charged Sturman and Feinberg with an attempt to commit extortion in connection with their threats to the Mays between November of 1991 and November 1992. Id. Count Eight charged Sturman and Feinberg with causing persons to travel in interstate commerce for the purpose of promoting extortion. 18 U.S.C. sec. 1952. Sturman was acquitted of the remaining charges. The court sentenced Sturman to 235 months in prison and imposed a two-year term of supervised release. Sturman appeals his conviction and his sentence.

5/20/01

Russell Hampshire featured prominently in Frank Rich's fluff piece on the industry in the May 20, 2001 New York Times Sunday Magazine:

Now his top movies wholesale for $18 or $19, sometimes lower. "There used to be only 10 to 12 titles to choose from in a video store," he says. "Now there are thousands of titles." A typical release may sell only 2,000 units or less -- 7,500 would be a modest hit -- but thanks to TV and international sales, Hampshire says he makes money "on every title." Though the total income from a hit is pocket money by Hollywood standards, Hollywood should only have such profit margins. An adult film that brings in $250,000 may cost only $50,000 to make - five times the original investment. Production locations are often rented homes, shooting schedules run less than a week, and most projects are not shot on the costly medium of film. There are no unions or residuals.

But more than anything, VCA resembles the corporate headquarters of a sports franchise. Only on close inspection do I realize that a towering glass case full of what look like trophies in the reception area in fact contains awards such as the 1996 Best Group Sex Scene, bestowed upon the "Staircase Orgy" from "New Wave Hookers 4." Hampshire, an avid golfer and bowler, has lined VCA's corridors with his collection of autographed sports jerseys, the latest from Tiger Woods. On one wall are plaques of appreciation from the Hampshires' philanthropic beneficiaries, including a local school to which they donate video equipment and free yearbook printing.

Hampshire's own office is spacious, outfitted with leather furniture, but -- characteristically for the business -- looks like a bunker. Above his desk is a console of TV screens tuned into the feeds from security cameras. Incongruously, this inner sanctum's walls are festooned with another variety of pompously framed "collectibles" -- autographed letters and photographs from Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. Hampshire says they're all copies, but he points to a melted-looking clock and says, "I've got Salvador Dalis all over the place -- authentic Salvador Dalis." He also shows off a vintage group photo of Murder Inc.