Wannabe country singer sets up fake porn auditions, tricks dozens of women, police say

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A country musician-turned-wedding photographer has been arrested and charged with tricking dozens of women into “auditioning” for pornographic movies and then paying them with bad checks, officials said.

When his victims complained about not being paid, Mario Ambrose Antoine created fake Facebook accounts, contacted their boyfriends or employers and sent them photos of the encounters, investigators said.

Antoine, 33, was charged in a 21-count indictment that was unsealed Monday by a Kansas City federal court.

Antoine is accused of posing as a talent manager, photographer and videographer for various fictitious companies to lure women to his Raymore, Missouri, home, a criminal complaint against him said.

He showed the women checks written to previous “models” and various legal forms to make the women believe that his business was legitimate, investigators said.

Antoine had his victims sign contracts and model release forms, promising payments up to $33,000 for their “audition and requisite sexual activity,” the complaint said.

During the encounters, Antoine acted as the “male performer” as well as the videographer and photographer, investigators said.

Antoine gave the women checks, which bounced, and would give repeated excuses for why they had not been paid, court documents claim.

If the women continued to complain, their boyfriends, employers and/or friends “would receive messages informing them that the young woman was a porn star, and these messages would often be accompanied by pictures of the young women engaged in the sexual activity,” Antoine’s criminal complaint said.

Before Kansas City, Antoine tried his hand as a country music artist in Nashville, Tennessee, going by the name Mario Sixstring.

During the porn audition scam, Antoine was on probation for convictions related to a previous wedding photography fraud scheme, investigators said.

Antoine is accused of trying to obstruct the investigation into his case after FBI agents raided his home, investigators said.

He impersonated a defense attorney and told local police to release his property because the “FBI was not pursuing the matter any further,” court documents said.

Antoine is charged with 12 counts of wire fraud, two counts of cyberstalking, two counts of online enticement, two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement, and one count each of obstruction of justice, extortion and false registration of a domain name.

If convicted, Antoine could face more than 300 years in prison and more than $5 million in fines.

Investigators believe that more women might be involved in the case and asked anyone who might have been victimized by Antoine to contact the FBI at 816-512-8200.

Mario is a musician/songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. He's worked with superstar producer Ross Copperman and written with some of today's hottest new acts. He's worked with Florida Georgia Line, Justin Moore, Josh Gracin, Jaron and the Long Road To Love, the Band Perry, Chuck Wicks, Love and Theft, and his most recent success is with Parmalee's latest single, "Already Calling you Mine." Along with songwriting credits, Mario plays pedal steel, banjo, mandolin, guitar, piano and fiddle.

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