(Reuters) - The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday refused to reverse the conviction of lawyer Paul Hansmeier for squeezing copyright settlements from pornography users, ruling a judge had properly denied his motion to dismiss and sentenced him to pay more than $1.5 million.

The three-judge panel ruled Hansmeier, who operated law firm Steele Hansmeier with business partner John Steele before he was disbarred in Minnesota, couldn't dismiss his indictment for failure to state an offense because the government had identified two litigation strategies as basis for its fraud claims. The court also rejected Hansmeier's argument that the restitution award against him improperly exceeded the losses caused by his offense.

Hansmeier, according to the opinion, along with Steele had "de facto control" over Prenda Law firm, which pursued a litigation campaign that involved creating and uploading copyrighted porn videos to filesharing websites and then targeting people who downloaded the content to get a settlement.

Hansmeier's counsel before the 8th Circuit, Andrew H. Mohring, an assistant federal defender for the District of Minnesota, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Nor did a representative for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.

Prosecutors accused Hansmeier and Steele of running a multi-million dollar copyright scheme. In hundreds of cases, the lawyers sought discovery that would reveal the identities of alleged copyright infringers who downloaded porn videos on filesharing websites. But the lawyers had directed the videos be uploaded in the first place, to ensure a steady stream of downloads, and their clients were actually companies they'd created to profit off settlements, the government said.

A federal grand jury in 2016 charged Hansmeier and Steele with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, multiple instances of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit and suborn perjury, court records show. Hansmeier moved to dismiss all but the perjury count, to no avail.

He then entered into a conditional plea agreement, admitting one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, but reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to dismiss, court records show.

In June 2019, U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen of Minneapolis sentenced Hansmeier to 14 years in prison and ordered him to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution. Hansmeier soon after filed his appeal.

Steele, who reached a plea deal before Hansmeier did, was sentenced to five years in prison in July 2019, court records show.

The case is United States of America v. Hansmeier, 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19-2386.

For the USA: David MacLaughlin, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota.

For Hansmeier: Andrew H. Mohring, assistant federal defender for the District of Minnesota.