News this week that VCX was pledging 20 percent of sales of “Taboo American Style” to the Henri Pachard Cancer fund brings back memories of more than a few names gone by in porn history. VCX was once owned by Norman Arno who fought many battles with the federal government.

Arno was a very enterprising guy, although considered not too attractive. Arno had a lot of DBA’s which is what a lot of enterprising guys do when they’re trying to hide something.

Consequently, Arno did business under the names Beneficial Sales, S&L Distributors, Security Sales Co., C&A Sales as well as N&A. Arno as many of the early pornographers were, was in and out of courtrooms. And one of Arno’s earlier convictions was on an obscenity rap in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1461.

To make its case, the government had offered in evidence advertisements and magazines, playing cards, books, and movies which a previous indictment had charged Arno with mailing.

The Ninth District Court, in 1972, however, reversed the lower court’s decision to convict Arno stating that the exhibits brought by the government were no more offensive than those previously found not obscene by the Supreme Court in such cases as Central Magazine Sales v. The United States [1967] and Potomac News v. United States [1967].

“The material in our recent case, United States v. Miller, 455 F.2d 899 (9th Cir. 1972), is significantly more explicit than the exhibits in this case,” The Ninth Court ruled, noting that the the Miller exhibits portrayed various forms of sodomy with man and beast, among other activities.

Then in March, 1979, in the case of THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. NORMAN ARNO et al., Defendants and Appellants, Arno and Leonard Steer were convicted in municipal court of three counts of possessing obscene films with intent to distribute them.

However their convictions were reversed by the Appellate Department of the Los Angeles Superior Court because it was that court’s conclusion that second hand evidence obtained through the use of binoculars and telescopes was illegally obtained.

It was also in 1979 that Arno would be involved in an infinitely more significant slice of porn history.

This would be known as the FBI investigation often referred to as MIPORN, short for Miami pornography. Before the Max Hardcore case, MIPORN was considered to be the most significant federal investigation and prosecution to come out of the state of Florida.

The investigation, which began in October 1977 and stretched over 2 ½ years, was originally initiated by local police officers. It eventually brought in the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Strike Force.

Working out of the Miami office, two agents of the FBI, Bruce Elavsky and Patrick Livingston spearheaded the investigation which targeted producers and distributors of pornography throughout the United States.

The investigation resulted in many indictments for interstate transportation of obscene materials. But more than was bargained for, the investigation also uncovered other criminal activities resulting in indictments and forfeitures. This included racketeering, possession and transfer of machine guns and silencers, child pornography, interstate transportation of stolen property and copyright violations.

Elavsky would use an undercover name, Bruce Wakerly; and Livingston became known as Pat Salamone. Elavsky and Livingston created a bogus company called Golde Coaste Specialties, Inc., and incorporated it in the state of Florida.

While the “front” business was a bluejeans store, an office warehouse in the back served as the porno operation where Elavsky and Livingston could hold meetings. They also established a business called G&C Sales, Ltd., in the Grand Cayman Islands to lend additional credibility to the operation.

Elavsky and Livingston assumed the standard porno stylings of pinkie rings, Rolex watches and open necked shirts to display gaudy necklaces. In their grotesque masquerade, they made it clear that they were industry players involved in the distribution of hardcore 8mm films, magazines and videos.

During the investigation, Elavsky and Livingston lived large and travelled around the country to meet other pornographers, often at conventions which were held every six months. Elavsky and Livingston would schedule their meetings at hotels- in lounges or restaurants.

During the course of the undercover investigation, the agents met with pornographers in virtually every major city including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Chicago.

The meetings would frequently take place in major hotels in the city. Other times Elavsky and Livingston would travel to the porn conventions.

At the time he owned S&L Distributors and VCX, Arno, a man beset with psoriasis [he had been once described as the ugliest man in porn and that he looked like an American Yasir Arafat] came under investigation along with the other principals of the company, Tommy Sinopoli, Marty Bernback, Sandy Sarnblad, and Timothy Burns.

In May 1978, Elavsky and Livingston met with Arno after they had established a relationship of credibility with Burns. Arno, at the time, was dealing with Ruby Gottesman who owned National Film Company but elected to do business with Elavsky and Livingston.

In July, Arno told the agents the story was making the rounds that they were cops. Ron Selinger and Bon Jay Sales had told him this. But for reasons, baffling, Arno elected to do business with the undercover agents, any way, and their bogus company, Golde Coast Specialties. He’d place orders via an outside pay phone. Arno at that time also admitted to the Feds that he was dealing with pirated movies and was duping them.

In January 1980, Elavsky and Livingston met with Arno at his VCX display at the Consumer Electronics Show which at the time was held at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. Elavsky and Livingston were ready to give Arno a check when Arno recognized FBI agent William Kelly of the Miami office sneaking around taking photos of the various porn displays. Arno, instead, told Elavsky and Livingston to meet him later at the Caesar’s Palace hospitality suite.

Arno was subsequently convicted on charges of conspiracy and interstate transportation of obscene material. He was sentenced to five years in prison on Terminal Island in California and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.

But this is only half the drama. Because Arno’s wife eventually wound up killing his children. Arno was so distraught and in shock from that that he left the business. Rudy Sutton, his brother-in-law, then took over VCX which at one time was considered the largest adult video company.

While in Hawaii, Arno met a hooker named Lorene “Lori” Smith, a known coke head, at a topless club. Arno, 27 years older than her, and reportedly, dying of cirrhosis, fell in love with Smith. Smith, described as a tall, stocky woman, also plied her trade at a massage club which was situated over a topless bar. She married Arno but the common belief was that it was for his money.

It was a situation that basically made him a laughing stock in the industry, but Arno promised Smith the world. And Smith responded in kind by going on $250,000 shopping sprees.

Smith, however, claimed that Arno had been psychologically abusive to her. And Smith supposedly had a kid by another guy while she was cheating on Arno. Smith, who was also pretty much considered a nutcase, began to believe that she was the whore of Babylon from the Book of Revelations and that her children were devils.

Arno was now doing time. And on Christmas eve 1986, Smith, who had moved to Columbus Ohio with the two children she had by Arno, was going to take them to see their grandmother. At least that was the story she gave to the police.

According to the police, Smith said she got a phone call and left the kids in the car in the closed garage. Smith’s story was that one of them started the car and by the time Smith realized what happened, one son, Jordan, had succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Instead of reporting the incident to the police, Smith took them upstairs to bed figuring that she could revive the other son Michael by playing him a movie that he liked, Flash Gordon. One story told is that Smith slept with the dead bodies for a week.

But by the time the police arrived, the smell was overwhelming because the bodies were decomposing. And Smith was apparently dressing the dead bodies as if nothing ever happened. In their investigation, the police had determined that Smith gave the children medication and then smothered them with pillows over their faces.

Arno was released from prison on a $100,000 bond to attend the funeral. And he always believed that Smith was innocent. Smith was indicted for murder but found not guilty by reason of insanity. Arno died sometime afterwards.

After taking over VCX, Sutton, himself, died at age 83.