Porn Star Found Guilty of Extorting $500,000 From Telecom Mogul
On Thursday, gay porn actor Teofil Brank was found guilty of six federal charges stemming from a $1.5 million extortion scheme against business tycoon Donald Burns, the Associated Press reports.
Authorities accused Brank of using sexual explicit photos to blackmail Burns into giving him $500,000 and an Audi sports car. After allegedly demanding a further $1 million, Brank was arrested in an FBI sting this March.
Witness testimony during the trial revealed a shadowy world of gay porn stars receiving envelopes of cash for group sex, with Burns himself admitting he paid $2,500 for each sexual encounter. From The Smoking Gun:
Porn star Justin Griggs told jurors that the 51-year-old Burns flew him—and other young men—to his homes in Nantucket and Palm Beach, where he was paid for sex. “It was really just hanging out, surfing, grilling out, going to dinner, and then we would have sex, group sex,” Griggs testified. The following morning, Griggs added, Burns gave the imported talent envelopes with cash.
Griggs later named billionaire David Geffen as “another friend” who gave him expensive gifts—despite earlier objections that he “feared for his safety” if he revealed the information.
According to The Smoking Gun, Branks now faces up to nine years in prison for his crimes, with sentencing scheduled for September.
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