New York Prosecutor Unapologetic About His Past in Porn

Connor Simpson 2,743 Views Nov 17, 2012

This is not a tale about a porn star with a heart of gold. Instead, it's about one who went on to become a prosecutor in Upstate New York after a pretty successful career of doing the deed back in the heady days of the 1970s. 

Mark Suben was first elected as distract attorney in Cortland County, New York in 2008 and was recently re-elected to his post. During the course of his campaign, Suben denied reports that he had appeared in pornographic films. 

Until yesterday, when Suben admitted the allegations were true:

"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."

Well, he wasn't totally unapologetic. He did apologize for denying it to his family and friends for so long and said he used, "bad judgement," when he denied the initial reports during the campaign.

The stripper with a heart of gold using his or her dirty deeds to pay for law school is one of the oldest noir tropes in the book. Think Jessica Alba in Sin City. Heck, Matt Damon in Rounders played poker to pay for law school. You get there anyway you can. Don't knock the hustle, as they say. 

But his spokesperson Aimee Milks said that wasn't even the case. Porn was just a career Suben had before he became a lawyer:

"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," Milks said. "It has nothing to do with his law practice or his current position as the district attorney of Cortland County."

We all have skeletons in our closets, I guess. Some are just more naked than others. 

The thing that really busted Suben was a Youtube video someone put together comparing pictures of Suben to pictures of an actor named Gus Thomas, who starred in artistic masterpieces like Deep Throat Part II (!), Bedroom Bedlam, and Doctor's Teenage Dilemma. Starring in a Deep Throat sequel is pretty cool, and signaled an early connection to politics. The video is safe for work, for the most part, and you can watch it here: 

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at connorbsimpson at gmail dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Related Articles   More by Connor Simpson

Rudy Giuliani Won't Marry His Gay Friends After All

Behold New York's Coolest Neighborhood: 'Chumbo'

New Yorkers Will Live Three Years Longer Than the Rest of Us

 

Who Should Be the New Voice of 'This Is NPR'?

Microsoft Wants the New Xbox One to Totally Take Over Your TV

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App