The films were violent and extreme, according to U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman, and had no artistic value.
"This is not the material you can order from your hotel room," Tolman said today at a news conference announcing the unsealing of a complaint, which was filed June 8.
The complaint charges 42-year-old Sami Harb and 33-year-old Michael Harb, who operate the Cleveland-based Movies by Mail, with one count each of selling obscene material. The defendants have been ordered to appear in federal court in Utah on June 29.
If convicted, the brothers face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The investigation began last year when the FBI's Adult Obscenity Task Force in Washington, D.C., got a tip about Movies by Mail and agents say they were able to buy obscene DVDs on the company's Web site. In March, a Salt Lake City agent placed an online order and three of the movies - "Max Hardcore: Pure Max 18," "Max Hardcore: Extreme 12" and Extreme Associates: Cocktails 5" - were deemed to be obscene.
"None of the three films has a plot line," an FBI investigator wrote in a statement detailing the charge. "The films consist entirely of scenes of hard-core sexual acts being performed by multiple men and women."
Postal records show that Movies by Mail sent 683 packages in 2006 to Utah, 149 of them to Salt Lake City and the rest around the state.
Assisting the FBI in the investigation were the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Offices in Salt Lake City and Cleveland and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
