Adult Performer Austin Wolf Gets 19 Year Prison Sentence
Justin Heath Smith, known professionally as Austin Wolf, has been sentenced to 19 years in prison. The 44-year-old received his sentence from U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Monday, September 29, after pleading guilty earlier this year to a charge of enticing a minor. The sentencing concludes a case that began with Smith’s arrest in 2024.
Gay Porn Star Austin Wolf Sentenced to 19 Years for Child Exploitation https://t.co/v6He9z75bQ pic.twitter.com/1rRxegFSce
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 30, 2025
Prosecutors argued his crimes were unusually egregious.
The prosecution successfully pushed for a sentence near the top of the federal guidelines, which ranged from about 15 to 19 and a half years. In a pre-sentencing memorandum, they characterised Smith as a serial predator whose actions went far beyond the single charge he pleaded to.
The government presented evidence that Smith conspired to exploit minors and solicited explicit content from teenagers, including one exchange prosecutors described as “race play” with a 15 year old boy. “Justin Heath Smith’s crimes against children are horrible,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated, adding that the message to predators is clear, “there is no place for you in New York other than prison.”
The defence pushed for the minimum ten year term.
Smith’s lawyers, Michael Baldassare and Thomas Andrykovitz, requested the statutory minimum of 120 months, or ten years. They argued that the federal sentencing guidelines were inflated and accused the prosecution of padding its case with unproven allegations. In their filings, the defence pointed to Smith’s lack of prior convictions, his sobriety, and his reported efforts at rehabilitation while detained as reasons for a more lenient sentence. “The government does not offer a single case or statute to justify its request for a sentence of nearly 20 years,” they wrote.
Victim statements showed the deep and lasting trauma.
The court also received victim impact statements from individuals whose images were found on Smith’s devices. These statements provided a stark account of the real trauma behind the charges. One survivor, identified as Liam, wrote about abuse that began when he was just ten years old. “This was the start of my nightmare, which I didn’t fully understand at the time, or how it would affect my life forever,” his statement read. He described being molested and filmed hundreds of times, leaving him with profound psychological scars.
The case has sent shockwaves through the adult industry.
Smith’s arrest in June 2024, after FBI agents discovered hundreds of child sex abuse videos in his apartment, rattled the industry where he was a major name. Studios immediately cut ties with him. Many fellow performers expressed shock and anger, while others feared the scandal would be used by political opponents to attack queer sex work and the wider LGBTQIA+ community. As one content creator said last year, “This is catastrophic news. We have to do everything in our power to separate us from people like this.”
