http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...0/APA/405101030
Man Gets 11 Years in L.A. Porn Fraud
The Associated Press
May 10, 2004
A man who admitted illegally using credit card information for about 900,000 people to sign them up for pornographic Web sites was sentenced Monday to more than 11 years in prison.
Kenneth H. Taves, 52, was also ordered to pay restitution for the scheme, which prosecutors estimated netted him $37.5 million.
About $12.8 million has been recovered, and another $8.1 million is believed to be in banks in the South Pacific island of Vanuatu. The rest of the money has not been found, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Whittlesey.
Taves, of Malibu, ran a business called NetFill that provided access to porn sites for $19.95 a month. In 1997 and 1998, he charged that fee to about 900,000 credit cards of people who had never used the service, prosecutors said. He bought the credit card information from a Southern California bank for $5,000.
Taves, who pleaded guilty to the fraud charges in 2001, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison.
The sentencing delay was due to efforts to determine the full amount lost in the case and because Taves switched attorneys several times, officials said.
Taves' lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.