Porn princess headed to prison on fraud charges

Jasmine Mitchell, daughter of notorious porn peddler Artie Mitchell, will be spending time in federal prison after being sentenced for credit card fraud and identity theft.

As part of a plea deal, federal prosecutors say the 34-year-old Mitchell was ordered to serve 27 months in prison yesterday.

In agreeing to the deal, Mitchell avoided what could have been a sentence of more than a decade behind bars by admitting  she had used a credit card in the name of another person to take out more than $2,000 in cash advances at the Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park earlier this year.

Mitchel also admitted that she was in possession of equipment capable of manufacturing bogus credit cards.

She also acknowledged that when she was arrested she was carrying a California  driver’s license and 14 credit cards in the name of another person. At the time, local authorities said was involved in that they termed a “large scale identity theft operation.”

Mitchell was released on bail in the case, but when she failed to show up for her court date, a warrant was issued for her arrest.

In late April, the local search for Mitchell was expanded to a statewide search after Sonoma County sheriff’s detectives went to arrest her and a suspected accomplice at a San Pablo apartment complex across the street from the Lytton Casino.

While they were in the complex, authorities said at the time, Mitchell drove up in a Mercedes but escaped by ramming an unmarked police car and driving off.

Mitchell was tracked down a few days later when detectives — who had been looking for her at upscale hotels throughout the Bay Area — were staking out the Lodge at Tiburon, a cozy, Marin County waterfront resort and saw her walk up to the hotel.

After Mitchell was taken into custody, Sonoma County sheriff’s Lt. Tim Duke said it looked like Mitchell was planning to leave the country.

“When Mitchell was arrested, detectives found in her possession numerous counterfeit credits, cash and methamphetamine. Also, there were papers in her purse suggest that she was preparing to flee the country.”

With Mitchell being sentenced to prison, she increases the notoriety of the Mitchell name, and adds to the number of family members with prison records.

Mitchell’s father Artie, who along with his older brother Jim, operated the infamous Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.

Artie Mitchell was shot to death by Jim Mitchell, who is now deceased, in 1991.

Jim served time for the murder, while James Mitchell, Jim’s son, is behind bars for beating the mother of his young daughter to death with a baseball bat in 2009.

As for Jasmine Mitchell, once she gets out of prison she’ll also be on supervised release for three years (by terry at dhead tech).  As part of her sentence she was will also have to pay restitution close to $2,000.

John Marshall is an SFBay editor and producer and writer for San Francisco’s KGO Radio.  Follow him on Twitter @breakingnewsman.