Cuadra And Kerekes Avoid Racketeering Charges
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Two Virginia men who operated a gay porn business and are accused of killing a competitor have surrendered their assets to avoid separate charges of racketeering.
Harlow Cuadra, 25, and Joseph Kerekes, 33, are accused of killing gay adult filmmaker Bryan Charles Kocis last January in rural Pennsylvania.
When the pair became suspects Virginia Beach police became involved in the investigation and started looking into their business.
The racketeering charges were filed after the murder charges.
Court documents show that among the assets seized were thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, plasma TVs, computers and various other home entertainment systems.
There also was a Honda Civic, Dodge Viper, Chevrolet Corvette and BMW. In addition the men forfeited $26,000 that was in their business account.
The assets are now the property of the state of Virginia.
The only thing not taken was their half-million dollar home. Authorities said it was heavily mortgaged.
Cuadra and Kerekes were extradited to Pennsylvania to face the murder charge. (story)
The agreement with Virginia prosecutors while the men were behind bars in Pennsylvania. It means they will not be prosecuted on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to receive money from the earnings of prostitution.
The pair are being held without bail on first degree murder charges. Both are represented by legal aid attorneys. The pair say that the racketeering charges were drummed up so that they would have no assets and not be able to afford an attorney.
Police say the pair killed Kocis because they viewed him as a rival in the lucrative gay porn market.
Kocis was the owner of Cobra Video - one of the country's largest producers of gay adult videos.
He was stabbed 28 times and his throat was slashed. The killers then set his home in Dallas Township, north of Wilkes-Barre, on fire to destroy evidence.
The body was discovered after firefighters arrived on the scene. (story) Kocis' remains were so badly burned he had to be identified through dental records.
Homicide detectives were able to find Kocis' computer and forensics scientists salvaged and reconstructed part of the hard drive.
On the hard drive they found a photograph of a man who was to have had an appointment with Kocis the night he was killed.
The picture came with the name "Drake" and police at the time said it could be a nickname or his last name.
Several days after the picture was released the Times Leader newspaper found a Virginia beach escort who said he was the subject of photograph that that it was a head shot that he uses for publicity purposes, that he had never heard of a "Drake" and that he was working in Virginia the night Kocis was killed. (story)
He declined at the time to give his last name but said his first name was Harlow.
It was then that police began collecting evidence on Cuadra.
He and Kerekes were arrested in May without incident.
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/08/081507murd.htm
Interesting stuff, there seems to be a lot of racketeering charges being bought about from cases involving 'porn' as of late by the Feds.
Regards,
Lee
