Question: Whatever happened to Mike Thevis, who was convicted on pornography charges in the 1970s?
Answer: Michael George Thevis, now 74, was known as the "Sultan of Smut" after launching an empire from an Atlanta newsstand that once controlled an estimated 40 percent of the nation's pornography market. As the result of a federal trial in Rome, Ga., Thevis was sentenced in 1979 to life plus two 20-year terms. He was convicted of racketeering activity linked to four murders and two arsons. He was also convicted of conspiracy to murder in the slaying of a former business associate who had planned to testify against him.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons declined to release much information on Thevis' whereabouts other than to say his projected release date is Feb. 11, 2028. He is officially assigned to a community corrections office in Minneapolis, but officials would not say what he is doing or even if he's in the Minneapolis area.
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"He could be anywhere," said Tracy Billingsley, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman. "He's the responsibility of a community corrections manager" based in Minneapolis. Thevis might have been assigned to a halfway house or to some other low-security facility.
