Ruben Andre Garcia, who appeared in most of the GirlsDoPorn videos, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.
20 years in prison for pornographic video recording fraud
As reported on the U.S. Department of Justice website, a federal court in California on Monday sentenced producer and actor Ruben Andre Garcia to 20 years in prison for conspiring with the owners of the GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys websites. The defendant recruited young women to appear in adult productions using force, fraud and coercion.
– Ruben Garcia chose to exploit and deceive these young women for his personal satisfaction and financial gain and today he was held accountable for those decisions – said FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner. – Today’s sentence is the first in this case, however it is definitely not the last. I hope this sentence serves as a start to the healing process and brings some sense of justice for these young women, each with their whole life ahead of them.
Garcia’s sentencing took several hours. More than 20 anonymous women gave testimony detailing how Garcia and GirlsDoPorn hurt them. Many of the women said that the publication of the videos led to harassment at work and schools. Some also said that the harassment was so vicious that they considered committing suicide.
Garcia pleaded guilty
From 2013 to 2017, Garcia recruited women for pornographic videos produced for the websites GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys. Both sites made millions of dollars during that time. Garcia originally pleaded not guilty to all charges, but changed his mind in late 2020.
Garcia admitted that he and co-defendant Michael Pratt were the primary recruiters. They focused on recruiting women between the ages of 18 and 20. The criminals created job ads with fake website and email addresses to make their victims believe they were applying for jobs as clothed models. Only after the victims responded to the ads did Garcia and Pratt reveal that they were actually looking for women to shoot pornographic films.
Lies, threats and deception
When the victims expressed hesitation, Garcia directed other young women to contact the victims and falsely assure them that the videos would not be posted on the Internet and that none of their friends, family, colleagues, or classmates would find out about them. The young women were chosen as references because Garcia, Pratt, and Matthew Wolfe believed that the victims would be more likely to believe other young women than Garcia or Pratt.
At times, Garcia forced the victims, against their will, to complete the videos once the video shooting had begun. Garcia and other co-conspirators threatened to sue the victims, cancel flights home, and post the videos on the Internet if the victims did not complete the videos. Additionally, they blocked hotel room doors with recording and camera equipment to make the victims feel powerless and unable to escape.
After the videos were posted online, many victims contacted Garcia and his accomplices, seeking to have their videos removed from the websites. However, all attempts to contact them were ignored or blocked by the criminals.
– Defendant lured one victim after another with fake modeling ads, false promises and deceptive front companies, ultimately devolving to threats to coerce these women into making sex videos – said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. – Even when victims told Garcia how the scheme had devastated their lives, he showed no regard for their well-being. The crime was utterly callous in nature and there is no excuse or justification for his conduct, which was driven purely by greed. The harm inflicted by this defendant will last a lifetime for his victims. Hopefully today’s sentence will offer them a sense of justice.
Wanted co-defendant Michael Pratt
Co-defendant Michael Pratt is still at large and hiding from the FBI. The agency is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Michael James Pratt. Anyone with information about Pratt should contact the FBI office or the nearest American embassy or consulate.
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