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A source close to investigation says it’s only a matter of time before ID of “Drake” is known.
By EDWARD LEWIS elewis@www.timesleader.com
DALLAS TWP. – Investigators know Bryan Charles Kocis was scheduled to meet a man less than two hours before Kocis was found dead inside his burning Dallas Township home.
What they don’t know is the man’s full identity.
With a possible last name of “Drake,” and the cult world of gay pornography, it’s only a matter of time before investigators learn who was with Kocis the night of Jan. 24, a law enforcement source close to the investigation said on Saturday.
A photograph showing the head and neck of “Drake” released by the state police at Wyoming late Friday afternoon has been circulating on several interactive Web sites, or blogs, that are frequented by gays. Several Web sites soon began posting full pictures of a man that appeared to resemble “Drake” on Saturday.
The person that investigators are interested in speaking with may be from the Allentown or Philadelphia area.
Investigators said Kocis, 44, sent an e-mail to an associate with photographs of the unidentified man, stating he was meeting the man at his Midland Drive home at 7 p.m. to discuss a modeling job for Cobra Video. Kocis owned Cobra Video that produces and sells gay pornographic movies.
About 90 minutes after the scheduled meeting, firefighters responded to Kocis’ home for a fire, at about the same time a witness saw a light colored sport utility vehicle back out of the driveway and speed away.
Kocis’ burned body was found on a couch.
Luzerne County Coroner Dr. John Consalvo said Kocis died from multiple stab wounds to the front torso and neck. He was dead before the fire ripped through his home, Consalvo said.
A folding-type knife was found inside the home near the couch.
A search warrant affidavit, which gave investigators authority to obtain Kocis’ electronic communications, including e-mails and telephone records, suggested that Kocis may have had a “personal association” with the suspect because there were no defensive stab wounds on his hands and arms.
Kocis’ company is involved in a federal lawsuit against one of its actors, Sean Lockhart, over breach of contract and trademark violations. The suit, filed in the Southern District of California in February 2006, alleged Lockhart lied about his age when he performed for Kocis’ company and used the trademark name, Brent Corrigan, for personal use.
Lockhart was featured in several Cobra Video films. A settlement conference is scheduled for Feb. 21.
Kocis established Cobra Video in 2001, after a failed attempt in a start-up cellular telephone business in 2000. Kocis was removed as a partner in the cellular telephone company after he was arrested in July 2001, on charges he sexually assaulted a then 15-year-old boy twice in his home.
Kocis and his lawyer, Albert J. Flora Jr., negotiated a plea deal with the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office where Kocis admitted to possession of child pornography in May 2002. The charge was amended four years later in July 2006, to corruption of minors, according to Luzerne County Court records.
The same year Kocis started Cobra Video, he filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 claiming liabilities of $222,800 in mostly credit card debt, according to bankruptcy records.
In his bankruptcy filing, Kocis listed his vehicle as a 1998 Honda Accord, and a monthly income of $1,800 earned through video sales.
Cobra Video became widely known in the industry producing high-end adult content movies in the last several years. Kocis earned money by selling gay pornographic movies or charging people anywhere from $3.95 for 17 minutes to $49.95 for 575 minutes to download adult gay movies on the company’s Web site.
Kocis flourished with his company being able to afford a BMW sport utility vehicle and a convertible Maserati that he kept parked in his garage. He also purchased separate 3-acre properties adjacent to Ice Lakes in Rice Township.
According to property records in the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds Office, Kocis spent $159,900 for 3.15 acres in October 2004, and $225,000 for 3.57 acres in April 2006. No mortgages were listed for the properties, the property records show.
Kocis’ wealth remains unknown, and won’t be known until his estate is processed, a task that could take up to a year.
His parents opened their son’s estate on Tuesday in the Luzerne County Register of Wills Office, listing an estimated value of their son’s personal property as $5,000, the minimum value that is needed to open an estate.
Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.
