22-May-17 – A Chicago lawyer who, say prosecutors, produced adult videos, then accused Internet users of unlawfully downloading the videos, shaking them down for millions of dollars in settlements, has been disbarred.

John Steele, whose office is on the sixth floor of 500 North Michigan Avenue, agreed to the disbarment, meaning he may no longer practice law, to avoid further proceedings by the Illinois Supreme Court.

According to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Steel conspired with two other attorneys to accuse thousands of people of copyright infringement, by downloading the videos, and extort settlements from them. Some of the videos, described as pornographic by the ARDC, were produced and distributed by Steele himself.

Late last year, a federal grand jury returned an 18-count indictment on fraud charges against Steele, who subsequently pled guilty to two of the counts.

Between September 2010 and February 2012, Steele filed 118 copyright infringement actions in various federal courts against 15,878 defendants not identified by name. He then tracked down and demanded from then as much as $4,000, threatening to publicly reveal their identities.

“If you act promptly you will avoid being named as a Defendant,” read a typical letter.

According to the ARDC, Steel did not have reasonable evidence that any defendants had downloaded videos. Still, says the commission, he was able to settle with about 5,000 defendants, recovering more than $6 million.

Steele is also accused of identity theft by filing lawsuits under another name without that person’s permission. Specifically, he is said to have used the name of the caretaker of his vacation home.