Paul Hansmeier, the Minnesota lawyer who was head of the porn trolling operation known as Prenda Law, has finally pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.
As Ars previously reported, co-defendant and fellow attorney John Steele pled guilty in March 2017 to federal fraud and money laundering charges. Over the course of several years, Steele said he and a co-defendant, Hansmeier, made millions with "sham entities" that threatened Internet users with copyright lawsuits.
The two now-disbarred lawyers also worked with a third, now-deceased lawyer, Paul Duffy, in this operation that Illinois authorities dubbed extortion.
Basically, the group orchestrated their own pornographic film, seeded it on BitTorrent websites, and then targeted users who downloaded it—threatening them with lawsuits if they didnt pay $3,000 to avoid embarrassment in court. It was a lucrative business: the trio made over $3 million, according to the plea deal.
Hansmeier's guilty plea brings the seemingly neverending tale of Prenda Law to a close, mostly. However, Hansmeiers attorney, Manny Atwal, suggested that there would be further appeals to come.
"The plea agreement allows Mr. Hansmeier to appeal the denial of his pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment," the federal defender said in court Friday, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "I think we came to a fair resolution and will see what happens at sentencing and the 8th circuit."
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Ars Technica
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