CORTLAND COUNTY, N.Y.—Just re-elected Cortland County District Attorney Mark Suben is trying to head off any brewing controversy over the fact that he was a porn star back in the day by saying that he used "bad judgment" in his youth, but really, what's the big deal? It was the '70s!
The two-term lawman did lie when asked about it during the campaign, but in the aftermath of the anonymous Nov. 15 posting to YouTube of a video outing his previous work in porn and a lengthy article on the subject on cnycentral.com, the former performer known as Gus Thomas set the record straight.
Similar to fired teacher Stacie Halas in California, Suben gave the "youthful indiscretion" excuse for his past behavior and the "I used bad judgment" excuse for his recent denial. He made the comments at a hastily convened press conference today during which he did not take any questions from reporters.
"I do not defend my bad judgment, both my involvement so many years ago and my denial recently," he said. "I humbly apologize to all who have supported me and believed in me from the bottom of my heart. And finally I thank my family and friends for their love and support. Without them I would not be the man I have become."
Funny, Lindsay Lohan made pretty much the exact same argument on Good Morning America today in the context of her various troubles over the past few years. "I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't gone through certain things and everything happens for a reason—good or bad," she said. Maybe they have the same publicist.
A quick search of iafd.com turned up a listing for Gus Thomas, only under one of his other professional names, Guy Thomas (he also used Ralph Carl and Robert Bell). The listing has him performing between 1972 and 1974, in 12 movies for such established companies as VCA, Arrow Productions and Odyssey, in such flicks as Deep Throat 2 (1974) and Like Mother Like Daughter (1973). In his promotional photo, he sports a thin mustache (of course) and a thick, sideburned mane of dark hair. He looked a little bit like Ron Jeremy then, and sporting a thicker moustache looks a little bit like industry attorney Paul Cambria now.
Simply put, despite the march of years and his successful law enforcement career, Stuben definitely still has porn DNA coursing through his body.
Photo: Candidate Mark Suben waves to the camera from his campaign pornmobile.
