New York DA: Okay, Fine, I used to Act in Porn

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

After initial denials, Upstate New York Prosecutor admits he performed in the porn business back in the early 1970s …

From NBC4 New York

A district attorney in upstate New York has admitted that he acted in pornographic movies in the 1970s then lied when questioned about it during his second campaign.

Mark Suben, the DA in Cortland County near Syracuse since 2008, held a news conference Friday to say he had lied about his past in the days before this year’s election.

“Recently materials have been circulated alleging that I was involved in the adult film industry about 40 years ago in New York. Those allegations are true,” he said. “I was an actor in adult films for a short period in the early 70s. I was also an actor in other venues including off Broadway, soap operas and commercial advertisements.”

Actually, not just any porn actor, but one with a pretty gloried pedigree. He seems to have appeared in Deep Throat Part II in addition to Bedroom Bedlam and something called Devil’s Due. The film’s all seem to be from the first half of the 1970s. The plot of Devil’s Due is described thus by IMDb: “A young girl fleeing an abusive home life arrives in New York City and becomes involved in a satanic cult. She conspires with the cult leader’s two lesbian assistants to take over the coven.” Interesting.

Anyway, apparently this all started with a tipster. He was flagging it to local news sources. And when they couldn’t confirm it, he or she took it to Youtube with this video, which as you can see is pretty convincing (it’s basically PG, just showing different face shots or not showing much you couldn’t put on regular TV) if a bit bizarre. Not much doubt whoever this was had massive animus against Suben.

Suben initially denied the allegations but had no choice but to acknowledge the movies once enough video emerged. His spokesperson says he will not resign.

“This was nearly 40 years ago. It was not illegal. Mark Suben was not yet married. He was not practicing law and he was not a law student,” said Aimee Milkis, Suben’s spokeswoman. “It has nothing to do with his law practice or his current position as the district attorney of Cortland County.”

Latest Editors' Blog
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: