Former Florida lawyer John L. Steele and his Minnesota law partner used sham lawsuits to extort millions online pornography voyeurs. Photo: scyther5/iStockphoto.com.

A federal judge in Minnesota sentenced 48-year-old Florida attorney John Steele to five years in prison and two years of supervised release Tuesday, for his role in extorting about $3 million from victims to settle bogus copyright infringement lawsuits over pornographic films.

Steele, with his co-defendant and law partner Paul Hansmeier, lied to state and federal courts nationwide between 2011 and 2014, according to prosecutors. They used fake shell companies to obtain copyrights to pornographic movies, even filming some themselves, before uploading them to websites like The Pirate Bay. When unsuspecting John Does downloaded the videos, the attorneys would threaten them with a lawsuit unless they paid a $3,000 settlement.

Their now-defunct firm Prenda Law was based in Chicago with offices in Minnesota and Florida.

'Eager to pay his debt to society'

Steele was disbarred after pleading guilty in March 2017 and must also pay $1.5 million in restitution. His attorney, Mark Eiglarsh in Fort Lauderdale, said they're both pleased with the sentence as the judge and prosecutors took into account how cooperative Steele was compared to his co-defendant, who received 14 years for the same charges.

“The key to my client's sentence, and thus, the disparity between his and co-defendant Hansmeier's, was that immediately after being indicted, my client accepted responsibility,” Eiglarsh said. “He then substantially cooperated with the government for over a year and made significant changes in his personal life. My client is eager to pay his debt to society and then get back to spending as much time with his 11-year-old daughter, who he adores.”

Brian Levine, senior counsel of the District of Minnesota's computer crime division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin F. Langner and David MacLaughlin prosecuted the case, which stemmed from investigations by the FBI and IRS.