He admitted he moved to the US in 2011 to work for Pratt, who owned the now-defunct GirlsDoPorn website.
Pratt and Wolfe met at primary school in Christchurch and while they attended different secondary schools - Christchurch Boys’ High School and Burnside High respectively - they remained friends.
In the US, Wolfe persuaded women aged between 18 and 23 to appear in adult videos - telling them the videos would never be posted online or released in the US.
Further, he promised that no one who knew the women would ever find out about their production.
Despite his promises, Wolfe was well aware that personal identifying information and social media accounts for some women were being posted on pornwikileaks.com - a site controlled by Pratt and dedicated to “exposing” the true identities of individuals appearing in sex videos.
Many of those duped into filming were struggling financially and were offered between US$3000 and US$5000 ($5000 to $8000) as payment, as well as an “all expenses” trip to San Diego.
They were taken to motel rooms where the footage was filmed.
The videos were then posted to the company’s subscription-based website, while shorter versions were posted to some of the world’s largest pornography sites.
The videos were viewed more than a billion times - a conservative figure that doesn’t take into account pirated copies of the files.
Wolfe admitted to filming about 100 videos and faced a maximum of life in prison for his offending.
US District Judge Janis Sammartino handed Wolfe a 14-year prison term at his sentencing, which started at 6am New Zealand time.
“It’s my view that you played an essential role,” Sammartino said.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Wolfe’s lawyers filed documents to the court claiming he and Pratt were “not particularly close friends”.
Further, the lawyers claimed Pratt offered him a job only after the 2011 quake where New Zealand’s “economy ground to a halt, leaving young people like Wolfe with few job prospects”.
Wolfe claimed Pratt said he needed “technical help to run his business” and the job offer included a flight to the US, an apartment and pay of $500 a week.
Michael James Pratt has recently been extradited to the US and is expected to make his initial appearance in a San Diego federal courtroom later today. Photo / Supplied
While he stated “in the office maintaining the computer servers, handling payroll and taking care of other routine office tasks” he “eventually began filming videos and taking a more hands-on role within the company”, the Union-Tribune reported.
It had been split across two dates to allow all of the women Wolfe victimised to read impact statements, giving powerful insights into the damage - and almost deaths - he caused.
“A decade ago, Wolfe sentenced me to a lifetime of fear, anxiety, and loneliness,” one woman said.
“I have lived with the shame, the fear, the blame, and the consequences long enough and so have the other survivors.
Wolfe’s actions drove some of the women to attempt suicide - and many of them to seriously consider it.
“Every day since meeting Mr Wolfe, I have had to make a very conscious decision just to stay alive. Living is a daily debate with myself, not a certainty,” said one woman.
“There are days I wish I had died … because dying would have been less painful.
“All I want to do is hide … I dream of fading into oblivion.”
Two of Wolfe’s co-offenders were sentenced last year - recruiter, actor and producer Ruben Garcia to 20 years in prison and cameraman Theodore Gyi to four years.
“Wolfe lied to and preyed on vulnerable young women, subjecting them to years of relentless harassment, fear and mental anguish,” said Stacey Moy, special agent in charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office.
