A New York company that beamed pornographic movies to 30,000 North American homes via satellite pleaded guilty to an obscenity charge in federal court Thursday.
Home Dish Only Satellite Networks, Inc. entered into a plea bargain arrangement with federal prosecutors in New York and Utah several weeks ago.HDO pleaded guilty to a felony charge of distribution of obscene matters in Buffalo, New York Nov. 29. Thursday they came to Utah and entered guilty plea to a similar charge in U.S. District Judge Aldon Anderson's court. Anderson set sentencing for Feb. 15.
As part of the plea arrangement with the federal government, the satellite company agreed to pay $150,000 in fines, said assistant U.S. attorney Richard Lambert. The fine will be split between the New York and Salt Lake District.
The company, which went out of business in March following a grand jury investigation, also agreed to refrain from promoting or distributing sexually explicit films.
HDO formerly broadcast its films via satellite on the American Exxxtasy Channel. It shipped its films to U.S. Satellite Inc., of Murray, which in turn beamed them to a GTE Spacenet Corp. satellite.
Charges were not filed against the Murray company.
The company pleaded guilty in New York to the Feb. 25 broadcast of a pornographic promotional film, "Hot Shorts." It pleaded guilty Thursday to the Feb. 26 transmission of "Hard-core Girlfriends."
HDO is the first company prosecuted under a 1988 federal law prohibiting satellite and cable broadcasting of obscenity.