Judge throws the book at Minneapolis lawyer who ran a porn trolling scheme

Disgraced Minneapolis lawyer Paul Hansmeier, convicted of running a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme in which he extracted settlements from hundreds of people who feared being exposed as pornography consumers, was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen complimented Hansmeier for being "smarter than all get-out," then blasted him for taking advantage of the courts in his scheme to seed the internet with pornography so that he could cajole the many hundreds of people who downloaded it into paying legal settlements to avoid facing costly and embarrassing lawsuits.

"It is almost incalculable how much your abuse of trust has harmed the administration of justice," Ericksen said during the sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

When challenged by judges around the country, Hansmeier blamed other lawyers who were hired to file lawsuits on his behalf, lied to the courts about his own involvement and ordered the destruction of evidence, prosecutors said.

Federal investigators concluded that Hansmeier and his co-defendant, John Steele, collected $6 million in fraudulent legal settlements from 2010 through 2013. But because of the difficulty in proving the elements of a crime required for conviction, the government limited the amount of recommended restitution that Hansmeier should pay to $1.5 million, payable to 704 victims who had paid settlements after April 1, 2011.

That date was selected because it's when Hansmeier had his brother, Peter Hansmeier, upload a pornographic video to a file-sharing site called Pirate Bay, said Jared Kary, a special agent with the FBI.

Steele cooperated in the case and awaits sentencing in July. Peter Hansmeier also cooperated and was not charged in the scheme.

Hansmeier pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, but he reserved the right to withdraw the plea if he's successful in appealing a denial of his earlier motion to dismiss the complaint. That appeal is pending.

The federal sentencing guidelines recommend a sentence of 135 to 168 months in prison.

Manny Atwal, Hansmeier's attorney, objected to the recommended restitution amount because investigators were unable to say precisely who downloaded which movie. She asked that Hansmeier's sentence be limited to 87 months — or just over seven years — in prison. She noted that Hansmeier's wife, Padraigin Browne, was in court along with several of his family members.

The courtroom was packed with supporters and other observers, including at least 14 members of the U.S. Attorney's Office and other court employees who were told to sit in the jury box to make room in the gallery for more people.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Langner noted that the case was being watched by people around the country. He asked for a term of 12½ years, in part to act as a deterrent to others.

"The way he abused the court to line his pockets is outrageous," Langner said. "And when he got caught, his conduct got worse."

Ericksen said she considered going beyond sentencing guidelines but decided instead to impose the maximum of that range, followed by two years of supervised release. She ordered Hansmeier to pay restitution, calling it a conservative toll for his crimes. While the amount of money is significant, she said, "that's not even a major part of the harm" he'd done with his scheme.

"The major harm here is what happens when a lawyer acts as a wrecking ball," Ericksen said.

Hansmeier had little to say before the sentencing.

"I'm looking forward at long last to put this whole mess behind me," he said.

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493