Dan Sasha Birman received a suspended sentence and a fine of $2,500 dollars plus court costs for selling Hustler's Barely Legal Volume 16 and Ladies Club, from a store located just outside Ruston.
Birman was facing a three-year prison sentence, but agreed to close his store to avoid a jail term. If Birman successfully completes the probationary term attached to his suspended sentence, he will be pardoned and his record will be cleared.
According to the Monroe News Star Birman, 23, avoided jail by agreeing to seven stipulations, including shutting down his store, that were asked for by 3rd Judicial District Attorney Bob Levy.
Birman was convicted by a six-member jury on October 29 of selling obscene material to undercover Louisiana State troopers in April.
“This is a great day for the people of Lincoln Parish,” Levy told the Star. “I think it also sends a strong message to those who might consider selling sexually explicit material in Lincoln Parish — if they do so, it is at their own peril.”
His defense team is headed by H. Louis Sirkin, who told AVN.com in an interview last month that he was prepared to take the case to Louisiana State Supreme Court if necessary.
One basis of appeal will be question the grand jury's ability to declare the tapes obscene without having fully viewed them. The grand jury only sat for forty-five minutes before handing down an indictment.
"We attacked that and that's an issue that will be brought up on appeal. This case will certainly be appealed," Sirkin told AVN.com
Fantasy Video opened just outside Ruston in February of this year and immediately faced opposition from local religious leaders, who started a petition to have the store shut down. Birman started a petition of his own – his garnered more signatures.
