Victim Of Gay Porn Star's Blackmail Wants $500K, Pricey Audi Back
LOS ANGELES (CBSLAC.com) — The victim of a gay porn star's blackmail and extortion wants his $500,000 and car worth nearly $200,000 back.
A hearing will be held Monday to determine what XXX actor and escort Teofil Brank -- who went by the stage name Jarec Wentworth in videos and on adult sites -- owes to wealthy telcom exec Donald Burns.
In court testimony, Burns said he often paid Brank for sexual liasions and for introducing him to other porn stars.
A Los Angeles federal jury deliberated about two hours Thursday before finding Brank, 25, guilty of extortion and related counts stemming from the $1.5 million blackmail attempt on Burns, a Florida-based tycoon and political donor.
Brank remains jailed without bail while awaiting sentencing Sept. 21.
Federal prosecutors want Brank to return the $500,000 he extorted from Burns, and attorneys are expected to debate the forfeiture demand at Monday's hearing.
Brank was arrested in March in an FBI sting after an agent posing as a Burns associate met with the actor at a Starbucks in El Segundo and handed over title to an Audi R8 and discussed a $1 million funds transfer.
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Weeks earlier, Burns had given Brank $500,000 and the Audi after threatening to "bring your house down" by posting details of the multimillionaire's paid sexual encounters on Twitter, according to evidence presented at the trial.
Burns, who is the partial owner of the Internet phone company Magicjack and controls the Donald A. Burns Foundation, testified during the three-day trial that he paid men for sex to avoid emotional involvement.
Prosecutors said Brank had a two-year relationship with Burns in which the executive paid him $2,000 per sexual encounter, as well as a $2,000 "referral" fee for introducing him to other porn actors Burns liked. At trial he testified he would pay more if Brank joined in.
Brank's defense team said Burns "groomed and mentored" Brank and offered to help him find legit modeling work before reneging on the promise and breaking off their friendship.
When the friendship ended, Brank threatened to use Twitter to expose the executive's predilection for hiring paid escorts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eddie Jauregui told jurors.
Burns "panicked," Jauregui said, and when Brank demanded $500,000 and an Audi to keep quiet, the businessman complied, transferring the money to Brank's bank account and delivering the car.
Jauregui said that two weeks later, Brank upped the ante, ordering Burns to hand over an additional $1 million and the Audi's title.
Burns then went to the FBI.
Defense attorney Seema Ahmad insisted that Brank never threatened Burns' reputation because the executive made no secret of his private life and there was nothing to expose.
Instead, Brank merely wanted to tell his Twitter followers "what happened to him" because he knew and was discarded by Burns.
"He wanted what was promised him," Ahmad told jurors.
The defense attorney said Burns paid Brank not because he was worried about his reputation, but because he truly owed Brank the money and car for services rendered.
Burns' "reputation was never threatened," Ahmad said, adding that Brank "only asked for the money he deserved and was promised.
