Feds Charge Indiana Man with Obscenity Violations

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury in Martinsburg, W. Va. has indicted Loren Jay Adams for shipping allegedly "obscene" DVDs through the mail.

FBI agents arrested Adams at 6 p.m. yesterday at a friend's home in Morgan County, Ind., seizing three videos from the premises. Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced the charges today in a U.S. Department of Justice press release.

Adams, 45, is charged with "transporting obscene matters through the U.S. mail and transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution by means of interstate commerce."

According to the indictment returned by the grand jury May 20, the DVDs were shipped from Indiana to Martinsburg through the U.S. mail in February 2008.

The indictment identifies Adams as the owner/operator of three businesses: Hard2Find Videos; L & J; and L and J.

The website for Hard2Find Videos features a selection of amateur content. One of the videos offered through the site includes fisting scenes.

According to the DOJ press release, the government is separately seeking forfeiture of assets belonging to Adams, "including certain obscene materials and all property derived from profits or other proceeds obtained from or used to commit the alleged offenses."

Adams faces a maximum prison sentence of five years on each of the charged counts.

Trial Attorney Pamela Satterfield of the Criminal Division's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force is prosecuting the case with investigative assistance from the FBI.