Prenda
Prenda’s Hansmeier sentenced to 14 years, ordered to pay 1.5 million to victims
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In summary, Hansmeier was greedy, arrogant, devious, mendacious, and consistently positioned other people to be damaged by his conduct, even as he enjoyed the proceeds of the scheme he orchestrated. Even now, Hansmeier continues to accept responsibility only in conditional terms, hoping to convince the appeals court that his shocking abuse of his position of trust as a Minnesota attorney, and an officer of its courts, was somehow legal. | |
| Position on Sentencing Memorandum by USA as to Paul R Hansmeier |
Paul HansmeierPaul Hansmeier, who pleaded guilty to two counts of the indictment a year ago, has been sentenced to 14 years (+2 years of supervised release) by Judge Ericksen today (the government recommended 12.5 years). Also, the judge set the restitution amount to 1.5 million. He has to report on July 9.
His partner in crime John Steele pleaded guilty two years ago and has been cooperating with the government since. His sentencing is set to 7/9/2019, and the government recommended prison term of 8-10 years for him.
While Steele has been in the mea culpa mode since the indictment, Hansmeier was defiant, and he still is: just two weeks ago he filed a motion to remain free during his planned appeal, in which he still insists that he didn’t do anything wrong. The government replied on Wednesday arguing that prison is a more appropriate venue for Hansmeier to watch his appellate loss. The judge denied Hansmeier’s motion today.
While the Prenda chapter of the shameful history of lawsuit abuse is about to end, Prenda’s spiritual heirs continue using federal courts as an ATM machine today, wrecking lives and eroding respect for the judicial system. I have no doubt that the current porn copyright trolling conspiracies will be given the Prenda treatment one day. However, it won’t happen tomorrow: Hansmeier’s sentencing is taking place long 6 years after Judge Wright asked the DOJ to investigate the troll and today’s trolls are not as reckless as Prenda.
Coverage
- U.S. Attorney’s Office: Press release
- TorrentFreak: ‘Copyright Troll’ Lawyer Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison
- Star Tribune: Minneapolis lawyer who ran porn trolling scheme gets 14 years in prison
- Boing Boing: Porno copyright troll sentenced to 14 years: “a wrecking ball to trust in the administration of justice”
- ArsTechnica: Porn troll Paul Hansmeier gets 14 years for fraud and perjury
- XBiz: Prenda Law’s Paul Hansmeier Sentenced to 14 Years for Fraud
- The Register: Stiff penalty: Prenda Law copyright troll gets 14 years of hard time for blue view ‘n sue scam
- Techdirt: Prenda Mastermind Gets 14 Years In Prison, Told To Pay Back Just $1.5 Million
- BBC: Porn trolling lawyer jailed for 14 years
- Cook County record: Prenda Law’s Hansmeier sentenced to 14 years for shakedown scheme targeting porn downloaders
Updates
06/27/2019
Hansmeier, predictably, appeals.
07/10/2019
According to the BOP website, Hansmeier is reported to the FCI Sandstone located about 100 miles north of Minneapolis.
Fight © Trolls 
It was a long road, but some justice was finally done. Congratulations to all those who have fought the good fight and pursued these miscreants to the ends of the earth.
Will those who lawyered up in order to avoid paying the criminals will be eligible for restitution, or only those who were shocked sufficiently to hand over dollars to the perps directly. Skilled counsel persuaded our cable company not to honor a Prenda-obtained subpoena and hand over our personal information to Prenda, so that we could be intimidated. Will we be compensated for having the foresight to seek counsel and thus avoid becoming cash-paying victims? Our lawyers fees will reduce the remuneration fund far less than had we paid big bucks to Prenda directly.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I hope you get ass-raped on a daily basis you scumbag piece of shit.
Yeah, “restitution”. I received no letter prior to sentencing. Hope the county or state enjoys the money.
Wow, justice takes a long time…
I feel a bit bad asking, but any more personal reports from the sentencing? Was Paul there so, with family. What was his reaction? Anything more than just the bare facts out there?
That should have been alone or with family.
I know it’s been a while, but since the Wright hearings there hasn’t been much to worry about from Prenda so I’ve retired to life as an occasional lurker.
It’s been a long wait but super satisfying to know how much better the last few years have been for me, both emotionally and financially, than they have been for Jester John and his merry band of brain-dead no-talent assclowns.
Congratulations to everyone who was here through the Prenda years and a special thanks to SJD for providing a forum for us. I valued and appreciated the support, and I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say:
Muhahahhahha! BWAAAAAAHAaahaaaaaahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
Cheers!
I second the thanks SJD. You did wonderful work. You, DTD, and many others. If there was some sort donation bin or go fundme, I’d like to contribute to any of you getting a fantastic night out or something.
Any way to get a link to a copy of the “Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”)”?
It sounds pretty juicy – especially the Addendum where Hansemeier dances around still thinking that he can get an appeals court to that none of his actions was “technically” fraud. This guy…
Typical narcissistic sociopath behaviour – denial, deflection and deferrment. It’s always someone else’s fault right up to and including “Look what you made me do!” as they’re beating on the victim. This guy will either find himself without teeth in jail in short order or gather himself a loyal cult following – and I suspect it will be the latter.
Unfortunately despite the egrarious offending, Prenda was only a bit player. The masterminds remain at large and as long as they do the scam will continue.
I hope the US government see fit to use long-arm statutes to go after the German mothership and start hunting down the other copyright trolls.
SJD has already commented on the comparisons between the letters of Paul’s mother and father, in which Gordon continues to be relentlessly defiant. But worth noting is the letter from Hansmeier’s mother-in-law, whose plea for leniency based on her daughter’s law office and work to support the family conveniently omits the ADA trolling that husband and wife embarked on, after Wright tore Hansmeier and Steele a new one.
Also Hansmeier’s other half got canned from her job as a patent lawyer before moving onto ADA trolling. I wish I could say I’m surprised that she used to work in IP, but it seems that the IP branch of law consistently attracts the lowest of bottom-feeders in the scum-sucking food chain.
To the other parasites – Franziska, Jordan, Colette, etc. – you can be beaten. Never forget.
Welcome to the big leagues, motherfuckers!
Bit of shadenfreude. In case 0:21-cv-01979-PAM-DTS Doc 1 Hansmeier talks about how he’s been thrown in “the hole” for several months for filing a ton of inmate lawsuits.
Amusingly he is suing the warden, which I can’t imagine will go well for him…