LOS ANGELES (CN) - A gay porn actor was found guilty Thursday of extorting and attempting to extort $1.5 million from a Florida-based business tycoon.
The case ended Thursday afternoon after about two hours of deliberation, with the jury delivering a guilty verdict against defendant Teofil Brank, who performs as Jarec Wentworth, on all six of the government's charges.
Brank, flushed and on the verge of tears, buried his head in his hands after the jurors left the courtroom.
His defense attorney Seema Ahmad wept as two U.S. Marshals cuffed and chained Brank, who was dressed in a white-collared blue shirt, gray pants and black shoes.
Brank's criminal trial began on Tuesday. He was charged with extorting Florida tycoon Donald Burns.
During trial, jurors heard salacious details, including Burns' bid to have a gay porn movie shoot on his multimillion dollar cliffside estate, lurid testimony about sex parties and Burns' very public relationship with another former gay model and porn star.
In a stunning admission, a male prostitute confirmed he was reluctant to talk to authorities because of his relationship with a "powerful" individual.
"David Geffen" was the name he uttered on the second day of proceedings.
Efforts to contact Geffen - billionaire philanthropist, founder of Geffen Records and co-founder of Dreamworks SKG - or his representatives were unsuccessful.
Brank was arrested in an FBI sting at a Starbucks near LAX as he tried to blackmail Burns for $1 million. By that time, Brank had already persuaded Burns to hand over his Audi R8 sports car and wire $500,000 from a Goldman Sachs account to a Wells Fargo bank account under Brank's name.
"I want a new car, motorcycle and both hands full of cash," Brank wrote in a text message to Burns on February 16, according to court records.
The 14-panel jury of 11 women and three men included two alternates. They heard during the three-day trial that Brank extorted Burns and threatened to ruin his reputation by posting sexually explicit photos on Twitter.
Brank made his demands via text message from his smartphone after posting comments aimed at Burns on the social media site, the government said.
In one tweet, Brank, who currently has more than 10,000 followers on Twitter, wrote: "How many porn stars know a man named Don? Yes Don."
Burns is chairman of Internet phone company Magicjack. He was a co-founder of the Telco Communications Group and heads the Donald A. Burns Foundation.
The businessman testified that he had paid the men up to $2,500 for each sexual encounter and knew he was engaging in prostitution. After meeting Brank in 2013, he paid the porn star for sex and for referring him to other porn stars and models from the Sean Cody paid gay pornography website, he said.
He emailed a list of 11 Sean Cody models to Brank and suggested he would pay him $22,000 in referral fees if he delivered the escorts, the jury heard.
"It was a way to have sexual contact without commitment and I had the resources to do it," Burns told prosecutor Kimberly Jaimez, adding that he had not been granted immunity from criminal prosecution.
During the trial, jurors were shown several photographs of Burns at society events and functions with another former Sean Cody model with whom Burns allegedly had a long-term relationship.