Austin Wolf Has Been Sentenced To 19 Years In Prison

Justin Heath Smith, known as gay porn star Austin Wolf, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for child sexual exploitation…

Austin Wolf, whose legal name is Justin Heath Smith, has been sentenced to 19 years in prison as well as 10 years of supervised release and a $40,000 for “enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and for engaging in a pattern of activity involving prohibited sexual conduct.” U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer sentenced the 44-year-old gay porn star on Monday, September 29, 2025 just months after he had plead guilty in federal court this summer to enticing a minor. The sentence brings the case, which began with Smith’s arrest on June 28, 2024, to a close.

His charge had a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years with a maximum sentence of life in prison.

“Justin Heath Smith’s crimes against children are horrible,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton in a statement. “He targeted kids as young as seven, and every New Yorker wants him and those like him off our streets for as long as possible and never again near our children.”

“The women and men of our Office, and our law enforcement partners, are laser focused on ridding our streets of those who sexually exploit our children. The message to predators from our Office is clear: there is no place for you in New York other than prison.”

In a 15-page memorandum dated September 22, 2025 prosecutors requested that the court impose a sentence near the top of the federal guidelines range: 188 to 235 months, or about 15.5 to 19.5 years. They characterized Smith as a serial predator whose crimes extended beyond the 15-year-old victim at the centre of his guilty plea. According to the government, Smith conspired with other men to exploit multiple minors, solicited sexually explicit content from teenagers, and attempted to meet children as young as nine and 12 for sex.

Austin Wolf has repeatedly preyed on and tried to sexually exploit minors since at least 2023

According to information included in the plea agreement and statements that were made in court, Austin Wolf, whose legal name is Justin Heath Smith, has repeatedly preyed on and tried to sexually exploit multiple minor victims since at least 2023.

Here are some of the disturbing details that were included in the plea agreement document:

In late 2023 or early 2024, Smith and an adult male (“Male-1”) met with a 15-year-old minor, during which Male-1 performed oral sex on the minor while Smith masturbated. Smith also had sex at least three times with an individual whom Smith believed was 15 years old, but who was in fact an adult. Smith recorded one such encounter, a threesome with Male-1.

Smith tried to make other arrangements to meet with other minors to engage in sexual activity. In January 2024, Smith made plans with another male (“Male-2”) to sexually abuse a purported nine-year-old child that Male-2 claimed to be babysitting. Smith travelled to Male-2’s building for the encounter, which Male-2 called off while Smith was waiting downstairs. In February 2024, Smith also made plans to meet a purported 14-year-old for sex, including discussing the specific sex act that the purported minor would perform on Smith. He provided his cross-streets so that the purported minor could travel to his apartment. The planned encounter did not ultimately occur.

Smith also solicited child sexual abuse material from at least one minor and multiple individuals who purported to be minors. For example, Smith communicated with a 15-year-old minor and, after the minor told Smith his age, Smith asked the minor for sexually explicit materials. The minor then sent Smith a video showing the minor’s penis and anus. Smith also communicated with an individual online whose username contained the phrase “12M,” suggesting that the user was a 12-year-old male. Smith and the purported minor appear to have exchanged sexual photographs and discussed a possible meeting location.

In one especially chilling exchange that is included in the document, prosecutors said, Smith asked a teenager to send him pictures of his 10-year-old sister. Another chilling exchange included in the documents details a February 2024 exchange with a 15-year-old boy in which Smith engaged in what prosecutors described as “race play.” Court documents say Smith referred to the teenager, who is Black, as a “good little nigg**,” while the boy called Smith “massa.” Prosecutors said the teenager produced at least one sexually explicit video for Smith at his request.

Prior to his arrest, Smith made plans to meet with an individual who claimed to be the father of a seven-year-old child and who offered to make the child available to Smith for sexual abuse. Federal law enforcement executed a search warrant on Smith’s residence before the planned encounter could occur. Following that search, Smith was found in possession of approximately 1,291 files containing child pornography, including around 75 files showing infants or toddlers and some videos depicting the violent rape of young children.

Smith also shared child pornography with at least 15 other individuals.

“The defendant’s repeated sexual exploitation of children requires a sentence at the top end of the guidelines range,” prosecutors wrote, emphasizing that Smith’s conduct was “unusually egregious” and presented an ongoing threat to the public.

The Defense’s counterarguments

The lawyers for Austin Wolf, whose legal name is Justin Heath Smith, filed a sentencing memorandum on September 16, 2025 followed by a reply letter to the prosecution’s sentencing request on September 25, 2025. They urged the judge to impose no more than 120 months, the statutory minimum, contending that federal guidelines were inflated.

Defense attorneys Michael Baldassare and Thomas Andrykovitz highlighted Smith’s lack of prior convictions, his sobriety, and his role as an advocate for performers in the adult industry. They accused prosecutors of padding their submission with unproven allegations. “The government does not offer a single case or statute to justify its request for a sentence of nearly 20 years,” they argued in their September 25 sentencing request.

The defense also cited Smith’s reported efforts at rehabilitation while detained in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, a facility they had previously described as plagued by inhumane conditions.

A timeline of what has happened

In June 2024 Justin Heath Smith, known by his porn star name Austin Wolf, was arrested and charged with one count of distribution and receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. The popular adult film star was accused of sending and receiving “hundreds of videos of child pornography,” according to the initial press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

Smith was taken into custody and made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Tarnofsky on Friday, June 28, 2024 when a preliminary hearing was scheduled for late July. Wolf was represented by defense attorneys Michael Baldassare and Thomas Andrykovitz.

At the end of June, Andrykovitz gave a statement to The Advocate, and in addition to labeling the government’s charges as “unproven allegations,” the lawyer stated that Smith was being held in “inhumane” conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center. Andrykovitz’s statement read:

“The government’s press release contains nothing but unproven and untested allegations against a man that is presumed innocent. Justin is thankful for the incredible support he is receiving from his friends and supporters. He is presently detained at [Metropolitan Detention Center]. It is well documented in judicial decision after judicial decision that the conditions of confinement at MDC are inhumane. Mr. Smith’s conditions are no different. The staff at MDC have already failed to provide him with his basic medications.”

Shortly before the scheduled July hearing, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo entered an Order of Continuance, extending the time within which a preliminary hearing would have to be conducted or an indictment or information would have to be filed in this case against Wolf until Wednesday, August 28, 2024. Defense attorneys Baldassare and Andrykovitz consented to the extension on behalf of Smith. 

As expected on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron extended the Order of Continuance to Friday, September 27, 2024 to allow for more time for discussions between federal prosecutors working on the case and Smith’s attorneys.

A few days before that scheduled hearing, on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, the Honorable Katharine H. Parker entered an Order of Continuance, extending the time for a preliminary hearing or an indictment to Monday, October 28, 2024.

As that deadline approached, on Thursday, October 24, 2024, the Honorable Gary Stein entered an Order of Continuance, which extended the deadline once again… This time to Wednesday, November 27, 2024. Again, the extension was at the request of Smith’s attorneys and federal prosecutors working on the case.

The day before the November deadline, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, the Honorable Barbara Moses entered an Order of Continuance, pushing the deadline to Friday, December 27, 2024. At the time Moses ruled that the extension “best serves the ends of justice and outweighs the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.” 

On Monday, December 23, 2024, the Honorable Sarah Netburn entered an Order of Continuance, extending the case to Monday, January 27, 2025, leaving Smith locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for the holidays. 

On Monday, January 27, 2025, Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis granted yet another 30-day continuance—marking the seventh time since Wolf’s arrest—pushing the deadline for a preliminary hearing or indictment to Wednesday, February 26, 2025. As with the previous extensions, the federal judge who approved the most recent extension did so at the request of both parties, as discussions for a potential plea deal continue. 

“It is further found that the granting of such a continuance is for good cause shown and best serves the ends of justice and outweighs the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial,” wrote Willis in court documents.

On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo granted another 30-day continuance pushing the deadline for a preliminary hearing or indictment to Friday, March 28, 2025. On Monday, March 24, 2025, Honorable Valerie Figueredo granted another 30-day continuance pushing the deadline for a preliminary hearing or indictment to Monday, April 28, 2025. On Friday, April 25, 2025, the Honorable Jennifer E. Willis granted another 30-day continuance pushing the deadline for a preliminary hearing or indictment to Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Then on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Wolf was granted yet another 30-day continuance pushing the deadline for a preliminary hearing or indictment to Friday, June 27, 2025. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Getzel Berger noted that both the defense and prosecution were continuing negotiations.

Finally on Tuesday June 17, 2025, Wolf’s lawyers revealed in court documents that the gay porn star would plead guilty on Friday, June 20, 2025 to at least one charge related to federal child pornography possession that carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence. As mentioned above, when that date came Wolf plead guilty to a new count from the DOJ: Enticement of a Minor, which carries a minimum prison sentence of 10 years, and has a maximum sentence of life in prison.