You may not know Andrew Craft by name, but you definitely are familiar with his story. Craft, known to those in the industry as Jim Manley, was the general manager for CashTitans, the affiliate program run by Ray Guhn Productions. Craft was arrested June 26 after the operation responsible for such sites as CumOnHerFace.com was charged by Escambia County officials with racketeering—conducting a criminal enterprise by engaging in prostitution and the manufacture and sale of obscene material. In this exclusive interview, Craft tells AVNOnline.com how the bust went down, how his life has changed, and the potential consequences his case could have on the industry.
AVN Online: You were arrested after the other individuals in the case?
Andrew Craft: Yeah, I was supposed to have been arrested the same day as the other two guys (Clinton “Ray Guhn” McCowen and Patrick Stevens), but I was out of town. Otherwise, I would have been home at 9 o’ clock that morning when they came busting in my door.
So, the police came looking for you earlier?
Absolutely, and they battered down my door and destroyed my house.
Was anyone home?
No.
What were you thinking when you found out?
My cleaning girl called me that evening and said my house had been broken into. I told her to call the police. She told me 12 units responded with canines. They showed up at the house, came squealing in, and walked up and talked to her. They told her nobody broke into the house and said a search warrant was served. She called me and told me the police broke into my house. I was like, “What?!” I asked her why, and she didn’t know but told me there was a long list of things they had seized. If it involved a computer, they took it.
They removed your things before you returned?
They took everything before I came back. About an hour after I talked to the cleaning lady, the lead investigator in the case contacted me and told me a warrant had been issued for my arrest.
Did he tell you why?
Yes, he told me I was being charged with racketeering, and they were using the predicates of prostitution and obscenity to charge me with it.
How did you feel?
Well, I was just in total shock. All along, I had been told that everything we were doing was legal. I had been going to shows and listening to these legal panels and everything that was being said was that we were legal, we had a good business, and that we were OK.
What happened when you came home?
I went and looked at my house, and it was utterly destroyed—I mean, things were knocked over, every drawer was open, every cabinet was open, and they just picked stuff up and threw it. It was horrible. If you can ever imagine your house being utterly destroyed…not only did I know I was going to have to deal with being arrested, but now I have to put my house back together.
They hauled you in on Monday?
The plan was that I would turn myself in. I was on the phone with our attorney. I was trying to make contact with the bondsman so that I could make it as in-and-out as possible. While I was on the phone with our attorney, they came knocking on my door. They came in and handcuffed me.
What has transpired since then?
I’ve had my arraignment and pleaded not guilty. The other individual in the case, [McCowen] (aka Ray Guhn) has retained Larry Walters, and his firm will be handling the majority of the First Amendment argument. I’ve retained local counsel—Joe Hammons.
Is Walters working on your case as well?
No. Each individual has to have his own attorney, but the attorneys are working together, and we’re being tried together.
What’s up with CashTitans? I see that it’s up and running again.
The program and websites have been sold. I can’t say to whom, because I don’t know, but we are no longer involved in those sites.
What is the political climate like in Pensacola?
We are in the Bible Belt, there is no question. It’s a conservative town; however, you are able to go to any convenience store in Escambia County and purchase hardcore magazines—Penthouse, Taboo, Cheri, Hustler, Swank, etc. Escambia County does not allow the sale or rental of [adult] videos. People have gotten around that in two ways: One, Pensacola is only 10 miles from the border of Alabama, and there are XXX rental stores up and down the border; and second, retailers are allowed to sell educational videos. Those videos are hardcore. They show penetration, anal, oral, cum shots to the face—whatever you want to see—but they’re educational. They’re describing how to perform fellatio properly while a girl is sucking a dick.
Are any of you working currently?
We’re all unemployed. The third guy who was arrested hadn’t been working with us for a while.
An informant?
Here’s the best way I can describe it: My bond and [McCowen’s] bond was set at $75,000. His bond was set at $1,000. If that doesn’t tell you he was helping…Ray and I had to come up with $7,500 to post the bond for $75,000. He had to come up with $100.
When did he last work with you?
Two years ago. See, all this activity is stemming from things that occurred in the past. We had moved production from Pensacola almost three years ago. We moved to Tampa for a little while and then to Vancouver.
You were shooting everything in Vancouver?
One hundred percent. We’ve been up there almost two years. That’s why they chose racketeering. They couldn’t charge us with prostitution, because it has a one-year statute of limitations. They could have charged us with obscenity, but I think as a whole, we have an extremely good chance of beating the obscenity charge. What they do is use the catchall: Any two predicates combined can equal racketeering, so that’s what they charged us with. That looks better on paper.
How politically motivated do you think this is?
Oh, my God, dude. It was the headline for three days. It beat out a murder, a child molester, and a rapist for the headlines.
How does it make you feel being used for political gain?
We’ve prided ourselves in our privacy. We used stage names in the industry. In our local community, no one knew what our profession was. Even our families didn’t know what we did. Now, I’ve been labeled a pervert, a john, and a pornographer. I’ve lost my daughter. They’ve stripped me of all legal rights to see her.
How did that happen?
Police questioned my ex-wife, and that’s how she found out what I was doing. Not even she knew what I was doing, because I wasn’t doing this when I was married to her. At that point, she went to her attorney. Once I was arrested, they filed paperwork, claimed I was a flight risk, and the judge agreed that there was a strong possibility that I would take my daughter and run, so all rights were stripped. On Aug. 11 I have a hearing to dispute that action. My daughter was my life. She was the reason I did what I did. I worked for her.
How old is she?
Nine.
How do you feel about the possibility of jail?
The maximum penalty for racketeering is 30 years. I have no priors. I’ve never been arrested. I’ve always done the right things. I ran the third-largest youth soccer tournament in Florida. I’ve volunteered hundreds of hours for the youth soccer organization. I’ve lost all that. My mom and dad know what I do for a living now. They’re conservative, and it’s broken my mom’s heart. To think that I might go to jail for working in a legitimate, legal business blows my mind. It may not be moral in some people’s eyes, but it wasn’t illegal. I didn’t sell drugs, I didn’t murder anybody, and I didn’t rape anybody. I always made sure I never dealt with minors. Nobody was coerced. Nobody was forced, but I’m being labeled a criminal and I’m not.
What’s next?
We’ve got a defense fund going. I just got word from ePassporte that they’re going to create a special account, so webmasters can donate without the fees. That’s going to be a big help. I’ll be at Internext to try to drum up support and try to explain the importance of this case. If we lose this case, our industry as we know it is in serious peril. If Florida says that paying a model with a contract to perform on camera is prostitution, you are going to see the hundreds of sites that shoot here in Florida go away.
Does the People v. Freeman decision in California give you any hope?
By all means. We’re going to parade that decision up and down the courtroom. The California Supreme Court already has said that this is not prostitution. We’re excited that there is a precedent out there, but I’m not going sit here and tell you it’s a slam dunk on our side, because of all the places in Florida to prosecute this, Escambia County is one of the top three conservative counties in Florida.
Donations to the cause can be made at RayGuhnDefenseFund.com.
