Attorney accused of porn trolling says he didn't break the law

A Minnesota attorney charged with extorting money from people who downloaded porn videos says he did not break the law by threatening or filing lawsuits. He asked a judge Friday to dismiss federal charges.

Prosecutors say Paul Hansmeier and a fellow University of Minnesota law school graduate John Steele uploaded video porn to the internet. They allegedly then filed or threatened copyright lawsuits against people who downloaded the material.

Federal officials charged Hansmeier and Steele collected more than $6 million in settlements between 2010 and 2014. Much of the money came from people who couldn't afford or were too embarrassed to fight the lawsuits.

Hansmeier's federal public defender argues his client's pursuit or threat of civil lawsuits was constitutionally protected. And he maintains Hansmeier had no obligation to tell the court or the people he sued about his connection to the internet porn.

"Threatening civil litigation is not criminal," attorney Andrew Mohring told judge Katherine Menendez during the Friday hearing.

But federal prosecutors say Hansmeier not only filed dubious lawsuits but also deceived judges and victims, committing fraud.

"There is no safe harbor for fraud simply because one of the tools of the fraud involved litigtation," prosecutors said in a filing.

"Hansmeier and his co-defendant, John Steele ... constructed an elaborate ruse designed to deceive people — state and federal judges as well as numerous victims who paid settlement fees to them — and for that reason, violated the mail and wire fraud statutes."

The government says Hansmeier and Steele filmed some porn themselves and commissioned other skin flicks.

Earlier this year, Steele pleaded guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges.

Steele will be ordered to pay restitution and could be sentenced to decades in prison. But he could receive a lesser sentence for helping to prosecute Hansmeier, who has pleaded not guilty.