
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990                   TAG: 9004110379
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE:    RICHMOND -                                 LENGTH: Medium

COURT OKS FORFEITURES AFTER OBSCENITY VIOLATIONS

The U.S. government's confiscation of property from sellers of sexually explicit material was upheld Tuesday by a federal appeals panel, which also affirmed the obscenity convictions of a company, its owners and an employee.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the case is the first in which obscenity violations were used to establish a pattern of racketeering, thus allowing forfeiture of property.

Dennis E. Pryba and Barbara A. Pryba, owners of Educational Books Inc., were convicted in U.S. District Court in Alexandria of three racketeering counts and seven counts of interstate sale or distribution of obscene materials. Dennis Pryba was placed on five years' probation and fined $75,000.

Barbara Pryba and the company were fined $200,000, and she was given three years' probation.

Jennifer Williams, an employee, was fined $2,250 and placed on three years' probation after being convicted on two racketeering counts and seven obscenity counts.

The jury also ordered the forfeiture of stock in five of the company's 12 shops, along with certain real estate and vehicles. U.S. marshals padlocked the Prybas' three bookstores and nine video rental outlets.

The appeals court rejected arguments that forfeiture provisions applied to obscenity convictions are overly broad, constitute prior restraint and have a chilling effect on constitutionally protected expression.

"There is nothing so unusual about obscenity convictions that they may not be used as predicate offenses" in establishing a pattern of racketeering, Judge Robert F. Chapman wrote for the unanimous appeals panel. "There is no constitutional protection for materials adjudged to be obscene."

Said Chapman, "The First Amendment may be used as a shield, but it is not a shield against criminal activity."

The court also ruled that forfeiture of business assets was not an unconstitutional excessive fine or cruel and unusual punishment.

A jury found six magazines and four videotapes rented by undercover police officers from the Prybas' shops to be obscene. Much of the material featured sadomasochistic sexual activity.

The lower court refused to allow the defendants to submit as evidence public opinion surveys purportedly reflecting community acceptance of sexually explicit materials. The appeals court said the surveys "failed to adequately convey to the person being interviewed the true nature of the material in question."

Fifteen prior state obscenity convictions against Educational Books Inc. also were cited to establish the pattern of racketeering. The appeals panel upheld introduction of the previous convictions.

by CNB