LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former Las Vegas illusion show headliner from Germany appeared to faint Thursday while being sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined more than $500,000 in a federal child pornography case.

Jan Rouven Fuechtener, 40, stiffened and fell backward over his chair after Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro rejected his apology and his attempt to say he derived no gratification from thousands of pornographic videos and images the FBI found in password-protected files on nine computers at a home dubbed the "fun house."

Fuechtener recovered after a sip of water, without medical assistance. His attorneys, Russell Marsh and Sunethra Muralidhara, said later it wasn't clear if he ever lost consciousness.

The judge branded Fuechtener a shameless liar and manipulator who dragged out his court proceedings "like a soap opera" and only regretted he got caught. She ordered Fuechtener to pay an additional $70,000 in restitution to victims identified in the videos.