Dute was first sentenced to one year in prison but served only seven months before her case was reversed by an appeals court based on the fact that the jurors who convicted her did not get to see similar porn videos that were considered 'not' obscene.
In October of 2002, a Hamilton County judge delivered a ruling on the Dute case that the distribution of Dute's homemade video series Jennifer 2, Jennifer 3, Jennifer 6, and Jennifer 7 made her guilty of pandering obscenity.
Dute was sentenced to one year in prison, although she and her husband Alan both faced maximum sentences of four years each and a $40,000 fine. Mr. Dute was eventually cleared of all charges in the case.
Dute and her husband produced and sold the videos over the Internet in which she starred with multiple partners. The Dutes had also named their distribution website after the Hamilton County Sheriff, Simon Leis, who had a history of prosecuting porn purveyors.
Prior to her conviction, Dute was quoted as saying that her actions were all protected by the U.S. Constitution.
The Dutes' attorney claimed at the time that the real reason behind the obscenity charges was because his clients had intentionally humiliated the sheriff.
The couple's attorney also argued that the Dute videos were no more hardcore or obscene than similar videos sold in adult video stores throughout the state.
The Dutes were first indicted in 2000 at which time they closed down their mail order business, website, and ceased producing and promoting their porn videos.
According to reports, Mrs. Dute's trial date will be set for sometime in February. Her attorney, H. Louis Sirkin, had filed a motion to dismiss his client of obscenity charges but was denied.
