An Oregon man making and distributing child pornography received an email several years ago from someone who identified himself only as "Blackhands.''

"Blackhands'' had hacked into the man's computer and found the pornography. He demanded $10,000 or he would expose the crimes, promising his life would be "over.''

The man paid "Blackhands'' $1,000 a month in Western Union money transfers for at least a year and a half, sending them to addresses in New York.

But that was only part of the heinous scheme detailed in federal court Thursday as the extortionist was sentenced to prison for hacking into dozens of computers, then blackmailing child pornographers to turn over hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Two of the hacker's victims committed suicide, prosecutors said.

The man in Oregon who was being blackmailed turned over his young daughter to the hacker, presuming she would be abused and used for explicit photos, court records show.

Andre E. Shaw

U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon sentenced Andre Eugene Shaw, 34, to five years and three months in prison. The judge rejected a shorter sentence of three years and six months recommended in a plea deal worked out by prosecutors and Shaw's lawyer.

The judge said both sides in the case had neglected to consider the harm to the pornographer's daughter. Her drugging and transfer to Shaw amounted to abduction and should lengthen Shaw's prison term. "She's a victim of this crime," Simon said.

The girl's father took her to meet Shaw at Oaks Park and another time to Westmoreland Park. The last time, in July 2014, he transferred his daughter to the blackmailer across from the Chart House on Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard.

The father, identified in court records only as "JAD,'' usually drugged his daughter until she was unconscious before handing her over to the stranger. The last time, he adhered to the blackmailer's demand that he also provide sex toys, costumes, makeup and a digital camera for a photo shoot, according to court documents.

"I still don't like this ... but I know I don't have a choice,'' the father messaged Shaw in a chat log on July 16, 2014, according to an affidavit.

The full extent of Shaw's crimes remains a mystery, federal investigators said. Computer equipment and discs seized from his home were heavily encrypted and the government hasn't been able to access them all, they said.

Two of Shaw's victims -- one in Great Britain and the other in the Midwest -- committed suicide when contacted by law enforcement officers, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman.

The case against Shaw, who also used the alias "Joseph Stanis," began after the 2014 arrest of JAD for producing and distributing child pornography involving four young children, including his daughter. JAD told an FBI agent that he'd been blackmailed for three years by someone he knew only as "Blackhands.''

JAD told investigators he arranged to make monthly payments to "Blackhands" through Western Union and that the blackmailer over time made additional demands, directing JAD to recruit people to skim credit cards at restaurants, buy guns, ammunition and a ballistic vest for him and pick up extortion payments in the form of wire transfers sent by other victims, Sussman said. Once JAD began providing the other services, his monthly payments were reduced from $1,000 to $500.

Before JAD's arrest, "Blackhands" demanded photos of JAD's daughter and then for JAD to turn his daughter over to him to make child pornography, according to a sentencing memo.

Investigators found Shaw's palm print on a box with costumes and a camera that the blackmailer had returned to JAD, after a session with his daughter. The camera was missing a memory card.

JAD provided investigators with the cellphone number for "Blackhands," which was traced to a Joe Stanis in Irvine, California, at that time. But a vehicle Shaw drove when he picked up the young girl was registered to a Southeast Portland address.

In December 2014, FBI agents raided the Southeast Portland residence that Shaw shared with his girlfriend. They found counterfeit driver's licenses, supplies and equipment for making high-quality false IDs, numerous guns including an assault-style rifle, ammunition and homemade gun silencers and discs labeled with the initials of victims he extorted. Shaw also had a police badge, a DEA jacket and a ballistic vest.

Another blackmail victim, identified only as KAS from California, said one day he received an email that told him he had seven days to transfer $500 to the stranger or his life would be ruined, according to court documents. The email, sent from an anonymous email service, contained screenshots of his computer, work and personal emails, social media profiles and banking information.

Later, he was given the choice of making a lump-sum payment of $20,000 or $500 a month indefinitely. KAS took out a personal loan, flew to Portland as instructed and handed over the money to JAD at a Starbucks. JAD, serving as an intermediary, then gave the money to Shaw.

KAS received a confirmation email from the blackmailer that read "It is done'' and "Godspeed,'' according to court records. KAS said he believed Shaw went by the name "Whitehand'' in his emails.

Computer discs found in Shaw's home were imprinted with a prominent black hand, Sussman said.

Shaw had pleaded guilty to extortion, two counts of transmitting extortionate communications in interstate commerce, money laundering and possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle.

Once he completes his sentence, he will be on three years of supervised release and must undergo a sex offense assessment. His computer and data will be subject to searches and he won't be allowed to access the Internet unless his probation officer grants him permission.

Shaw justified what he did at first "because in his view it was only hurting people who deserved it,'' his lawyer, Richard McBreen III, wrote in a sentencing memo. Shaw also noted that the "money was too easy.''

Shaw didn't rebut any of the government's facts, his lawyer said. Shaw declined to address the court.

Four months before Shaw's arrest, JAD wrote to him, "I am frankly running out of money. Are you ever going to actually let me go?''

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian