THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280439
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ AND MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
A Virginia Beach bookstore owner agreed to close three shops after pleading guilty Tuesday to selling sexual aids that a secret panel of residents, convened by prosecutors, decided were obscene.
Charges against Louis Krbec III stemmed from an investigation that targeted six stores in a sweep last spring orchestrated by prosecutors in response to citizen complaints, said Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Albert Alberi. Misdemeanor charges were brought against three other store owners targeted by the sweep.
Krbec was the only person charged with a felony - possession of obscene items with intent to distribute - because he had two previous convictions for selling obscene items. Under the felony charges, Krbec faced up to five years in prison and $12,500 in fines.
As part of a plea agreement in which the felonies were reduced to misdemeanors, Krbec is required to close Beach Books, Variety Books and Fireside News.
A secret three-citizen panel determined last spring that the items were obscene, providing probable cause to raid the six stores. Another secret panel of about nine citizens was convened last month to review the items. Two members of that panel told prosecutors that they did not find the items obscene.
``I think we would have won if we'd tried the case,'' said Krbec's attorney, Paul M. Lipkin. ``If those nine people were a jury, they could not have convicted without a unanimous opinion.''
``The most important thing to my client was not to go to jail and not to have a felony on his record,'' Lipkin said. ``The hit in the pocketbook was not so bad for Lou. He'd rather it didn't happen, but he can survive.''
Lipkin said his client had already planned to sell the stores and is moving to Florida.
Krbec promised in the plea agreement not to open another book or novelty store in Virginia Beach, and agreed to pay $3,000 in fines. He also forfeited thousands of dollars of sexual aids, which will be turned over to the commonwealth to be destroyed.
Krbec has had run-ins with the law before. In the late 1980s, court records showed, police arrested dozens of people at one of his shops for illegal sexual acts in booths where they were watching peep shows. Krbec was convicted of selling obscene items in 1978 and 1985.
The latest obscenity investigation began in October when detectives purchased sexual aids and devices from the six stores.
The other owners, facing misdemeanor charges, plan to fight the charges later this year on the grounds that the items are not obscene, their attorneys said Tuesday.
``Obscenity is a community standard, and we believe that this community will not find the items seized to be obscene,'' said George Neskis, who represents the owner of Tara Thunder on Atlantic Avenue. ``Some are purely novelty items, and some are legitimate sexual aids. None of them fall within the legal definition of obscene.''
The three-person citizen panel viewed the items and determined they violated the community standards for obscenity. Police then confiscated thousands of items, worth tens of thousands of dollars, from the stores during the March raid.
Four of the businesses are adult bookstores, one is a video and book store, and the other is a clothing and accessories store.
At Tara Thunder, police took more than $15,000 worth of items, the owner said. Other stores were Oceana Video and News in the 1300 block of Oceana Blvd. and 17th Street Books in the 300 block of 17th St.
Those cases are scheduled for trial later this year.
KEYWORDS: OBSCENITY GUILTY PLEA by CNB