LOS ANGELES — Jarec Wentworth, the gay porn star accused of extorting $500,000 and an Audi R8 worth $180,000 from a man by threatening to expose his “sexual liaisons” on Twitter, pleaded not guilty to federal charges today.
Wentworth, who has been in detention since he was arrested three weeks ago, appeared this morning at federal court in Los Angeles but refused to sign a statement acknowledging his constitutional rights.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Frederick Mumm, however, said that he found that Wentworth heard and understood his constitutional rights.
Mumm assigned the case to U.S. District Judge John Walter, who has not yet set a trial date for the popular gay star who has worked for Men.com and Sean Cody.
A determination over a pretrial release for Wentworth has yet to be decided.
Earlier this week his counsel, two federal public defenders, asked the court to allow bail, stating that it would be unlikely Wentworth would be a flight risk because the Justice Department was able to freeze all of his bank accounts after he was arrested.
In the extortion case, Wentworth allegedly threatened to expose details of sexual encounters of the man, known in court filings as “D.B.”
D.B., according to a federal complaint, went straight to the FBI after he was initially fleeced out of $500,000 and the Audi.
Wentworth was said to have later upped his demands to D.B., asking for $1 million in cash and a two-bedroom “bachelor pad” condo in Los Angeles.
FBI agents, who acted as D.B.’s associates, arranged a meeting with Wentworth at the Grove, a Los Angeles shopping destination near the city’s famed Farmer’s Market, but later chose a Manhattan Beach Starbucks to hand over cash and title to the Audi.
At the Starbucks, FBI agents found a loaded .357 Magnum revolver with additional ammunition in Wenworth’s car, a 2014 Ford hatchback.
Wentworth is presently housed at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center.
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