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?GGW? film company president makes bond
April 14, 2007
PANAMA CITY
County Judge Shane Vann wanted to know Friday what a standard bond would be for a defendant who lives in California and has access to ?large sums of money.?
In the end, he decided that $25,000 likely would assure that Mantra Films Inc. President Scott Barbour returns to court to address five counts of introducing contraband into the Bay County Jail.
Barbour, 43, of Calabasas, Calif., is accused of smuggling prescription pills to his boss, ?Girls Gone Wild? founder Joe Francis, while Francis was being held at the jail on a charge of criminal contempt of court.
Barbour?s charges all are third-degree felonies, each carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Criminal charges were filed Thursday accusing Francis of bribery of a public servant, three counts of possessing a controlled substance and five counts of introducing contraband into a detention facility. Francis did not make a first appearance on the charges Friday.
Investigators said they found 16 prescription pills and $700 in cash in Francis? cell, including the sleeping medication Lunesta and the antianxiety pill lorazepam. The pills, according to court records, were found under Francis? mattress and under a towel on a table.
Francis has drugs prescribed to him for an anxiety problem, but the drugs allegedly in the cell had not been prescribed by jail personnel.
The Bay County Sheriff?s Office said Barbour supplied the pills to Francis on Wednesday.
Barbour?s lawyer, Bob Pell of Panama City, told Vann that Barbour has had ?minor troubles? with the law in the past and had never failed to appear for a court appearance. Pell did not go into detail about the troubles.
Pell said Barbour has lived in the same California neighborhood for 32 years and is a respected businessman in his community.
?We would just ask that you treat him the same as any other defendant charged with these offenses,? Pell told Vann.
?Any other defendant who lives in California and has access to large sums of money,? Vann added.
Prosecutor Matthew Smith Kennedy asked Vann to take Barbour?s passport as a condition of his bond. Vann declined to do that but did require that Barbour report by phone weekly to a pre-trial release officer.
Vann assigned bond at $5,000 per count, a standard amount in Bay County for third-degree felonies. Barbour posted bond later in the day. His next court appearance is May 10.
?Difficult time? for Francis
Jan Handzlik, Francis? lawyer in the criminal contempt case, said Francis was ?very distraught? over his continued incarceration.
?He?s having a difficult time,? Handzlik said. ?He was looking forward to resolving matters with (U.S. District Judge Richard) Smoak and moving ahead with his life.?
The day Francis was scheduled to have a bond hearing in the contempt case, the State Attorney?s Office filed a motion seeking to have Francis? bond in the state?s case against him revoked because of the contraband charges. Francis, after conferring with his attorneys, declined to go forward with the hearing and returned to jail in tears.
?We didn?t go through with the hearing,? Handzlik said, ?because the chances of succeeding in light of the newly filed charges were very slim.?
He said criminal contempt is like any other criminal offense in which a defendant can try to resolve it prior to a trial or evidentiary hearing. In standard criminal cases, that would be a plea agreement.
Francis is scheduled for an evidentiary hearing in the contempt case on April 23.
Handzlik said he?s ?always hopeful of resolving matters? as quickly as possible.
?We?ll use our best efforts to resolve the federal and state matters,? he said. ?I want to point out that this week has been an aberration in Mr. Francis? life. He?s been under a great deal of pressure and emotion this past week. This is not typical conduct for Mr. Francis.
?I hope that when the state attorney looks at Mr. Francis? life as a whole, he will recognize that this conduct is completely out of character. I hope to provide information to both the U.S. attorney and the state attorney as to possible reasons for the behavior.?
Francis also was indicted this week in Nevada on charges of tax fraud. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Handzlik said this week in Francis? life will affect the way the Nevada case is handled.
?The court does look at a defendant?s history, and this week will play a part,? he said.
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