A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Michael James Pratt to 27 years in prison for his role in operating the GirlsDoPorn enterprise, handing down a term longer than prosecutors sought after dozens of women delivered emotional statements about how the scheme upended their lives.
Thirty-eight women spoke in court, recounting how they traveled to San Diego for what they were told were legitimate modeling or adult-industry opportunities and were coerced or forced into performing sexual acts on camera that were later posted online without their consent. Victims urged the judge to impose a severe sentence, with one telling the court, “The life I was meant to have died in that hotel room,” and others saying they sought justice rather than forgiveness.
Prosecutors said Pratt, 42, who pleaded guilty in June to sex trafficking, fraud or coercion and related charges, masterminded a scheme that began in 2012 and victimized hundreds of women. According to court records and statements from prosecutors and victims, many of the women were between 18 and 21 when they were recruited with false advertisements offering paid modeling work. Once in San Diego hotel rooms, victims said, camera crews awaited them and they were pressured into performing for pornographic videos.
Victims described a pattern of threats and deception used to secure compliance: crews threatened to cancel return flights, imposed inflated charges for lodging and production, or warned that explicit images would be posted online if women refused to participate. In several instances, victims told the court, equipment or personnel blocked exits from hotel rooms to prevent them from leaving. After filming, victims were often paid modest sums—about $2,000, prosecutors said—and were told the material would be restricted to private DVD collections overseas, only to find the footage later on subscription sites and free platforms where it garnered millions of views.
Pratt fled the United States in 2019 and spent time in Spain, where U.S. authorities located and arrested him in 2022. He appeared on the FBI’s Most Wanted list while efforts to locate him were underway. During sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sasha Foster told the judge that Pratt had lied to the women while planning to profit from their exploitation.
Victims and prosecutors described downstream effects on survivors’ health and well-being. Some who testified attributed attempts at suicide, substance abuse and other long-term harm to their experiences. Court statements included estimates by victims that at least 15 women tied to the operation later died by suicide or drug overdose; prosecutors noted that number would not be surprising given testimony about attempts and long-term distress. One mother who spoke in court said her daughter, once described as happy, fell into depression and drug addiction before dying of an overdose in 2023.
Several individuals who worked with Pratt have been convicted and sentenced. Cameraman Theodore Gyi received four years in prison, and adult-performer Ruben Andre Garcia was sentenced to 20 years. Pratt’s former bookkeeper, Valorie Moser, is scheduled to be sentenced later this week. In 2020, courts ordered Pratt and other operators of GirlsDoPorn to pay nearly $13 million in damages to victims.
Pratt addressed the court before he was sentenced, offering an apology and saying it was “never my intention to hurt anyone.” The judge imposed a 27-year federal term, five years longer than prosecutors had recommended and nearly three years above the federal guidelines for the offenses.
The sentence marks the latest legal resolution in a multi-year effort to hold accountable operators of the GirlsDoPorn operation and to address the long-term harms described by survivors. Victims and advocates leave the case noting potential civil remedies and the continuing challenges survivors face in seeking removal of nonconsensual explicit material from the internet.