Adult Bookstores Investigated for Alleged Sales of Obscene Materials : Crime: Police say they will ask that charges be filed against the alleged owner of three so-called ‘porn shops’ for selling illegal X-rated videotapes.

The alleged owner and operator of one of the state’s largest retail adult book and video store operations and his associate are under criminal investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department for allegedly selling obscene materials through their stores, police officials said Thursday.

Steven D. Wiener and associate Jose Vicente La Veaga are heading a ring that sells illegal X-rated videotapes through an unknown number of so-called “porn shops” that Wiener allegedly owns and controls in Hollywood and other locations throughout Los Angeles, San Diego County and the nation, according to Detective William F. Roberts, other authorities, a search warrant and affidavit filed in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Culminating a six-month surveillance, the Police Department next week will ask City Atty. James K. Hahn to file a six-count criminal complaint against both Wiener and La Veaga, charging them with possession and distribution of obscene materials at three Hollywood adult stores, said Roberts and Lt. Kenneth Seibert, who both work for the department’s pornography unit.

“This is the first time in the last three years that we have taken criminal action against an owner of multiple retail outlets in Los Angeles,” said Roberts, who estimated that Wiener owns as many as “30 to 40 stores around the States,” mostly in California.

Generally, the LAPD focuses on wholesale distributors of obscenity who are based in Los Angeles but sell their products nationwide, Roberts said. But “the retail stores are the most visible to the community, where people get the most angry.”

Wiener and the owners of the Le Sex Shoppe chain of adult stores account for about 70% of the adult bookstores and adult video arcades in Los Angeles, Roberts said.

A conviction on each obscenity count--if the city attorney decides to prosecute--would carry a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. Roberts and other police officials and the city attorney’s office said that charges will be filed within three weeks.

Wiener, 28, who police say lives in National City in San Diego County, did not return phone calls and could not be reached for comment. Also unavailable were La Veaga, 33, apparently of Tijuana, Mexico, and Norman R. Atkins, a Beverly Hills lawyer who has represented Wiener in the past. Atkins did not return more than a dozen phone calls.

Detective Don Smith, the supervising investigator for the police pornography unit, said some of the videos allegedly distributed by Wiener and sold through his stores are “extremely graphic and violent in nature.”

Pornography is obscene--and therefore illegal--if, based on community standards, it appeals solely to prurient interests, if it depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and if a reasonable person would find that the material lacks serious artistic, political or scientific value, according to guidelines in U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

During their investigation, undercover vice officers bought allegedly obscene videotapes at three locations in Hollywood that police say Wiener owns and controls--Highland Books at 6775 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood Video at 1651 Cahuenga Blvd., and Wilcox Books, 1649 North Wilcox Ave. According to the search warrant, authorities bought and viewed three videos that they say are obscene; all deal with sexual bondage and domination.

Although the city attorney’s office must first review the materials to determine whether they are obscene, Michael Guarino, a deputy city attorney who oversees obscenity prosecutions, predicted, “We are going to be bringing charges against” Wiener and La Veaga.

Roberts, who oversaw the investigation, said Wiener’s father, Donald, has been involved in the pornography business since the late 1960s, and Steven for more than 10 years. “Basically Steve has stepped in and taken over what was already there, and now they are spreading to other areas,” Roberts said.

Authorities estimated that each of the stores brings in $1,300 a day before expenses.

Wiener and his father have had a long history of run-ins with the law regarding the sale of allegedly obscene materials and the operation of their shops, according to Roberts, Smith and other authorities.

Steven Wiener last fall was ordered to serve 30 days in custody for a violation of a National City zoning ordinance because he had locking doors on “peep booths” at Chuck’s Books, a local adult entertainment center he allegedly owned, said Linda Harter, an assistant city attorney in National City.

Wiener also was convicted of other violations relating to Chuck’s Books last June and was ordered to serve six months, but he was released from custody on his own recognizance pending appeal, Harter said.

In July, 1986, Donald Wiener pleaded guilty to possessing obscene materials for sale at Chuck’s Books and the Video Exchange in Lemon Grove. In that case, Steven Wiener pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and received three years probation and a $300 fine.

Meanwhile, Hahn’s office has filed suit against at least two adult stores that Hahn says are owned or controlled by Wiener--the J & B Bookstore in North Hollywood and the Wilcox Books store in Hollywood--for allegedly violating a city zoning ordinance prohibiting them from operating an adult store within 500 feet of a residential area. The Hollywood Video store recently agreed in court to shut down by May 8 and pay a $2,300 fine, according to the city attorney’s office.

Police and city officials also say they are investigating whether Wiener has a hidden interest in other porn shops in Los Angeles that may be violating the zoning ordinance as well.