SALT LAKE CITY - The owners of Ohio-based online adult retailer Movies By Mail will stand trial on federal obscenity charges beginning Jan. 5, 2009 in Salt Lake City.
Sami R. Harb and his cousin, Michael Harb, were indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2007 after allegedly mailing three adult DVDs to undercover FBI agents in Salt Lake City. The titles named in the indictment include two Max Hardcore movies, Pure Max 18 and Max Extreme 12, and Extreme Associates' Cocktails 5.
The two men are charged with three counts of engaging in a business of selling or transferring obscene DVDs, and three counts of using the mails to deliver obscene DVDs. If convicted, the Harbs face up to five years in prison for each count.
The Harbs have retained attorneys Jerry Mooney and Paul Cambria to represent them. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin Fojtik of the District of Utah will prosecute the case with Trial Attorney Kenneth Whitted of the Justice Department's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force.
The FBI's Adult Obscenity Squad conducted the investigation in cooperation with agents from the FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office.
