Girls Gone Wild founder ordered to jail.
 

Florida for you, baby.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...ck=1&cset=true

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WG

Sorry,


'Girls Gone Wild' founder Francis ordered to jail
The 'Girls Gone Wild' maker is found to be in contempt after talks to end a lawsuit fall apart.
By Josh Friedman, Times Staff Writer
April 6, 2007


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A federal judge in Panama City, Fla., on Thursday ordered "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis jailed for contempt of court in a civil suit brought by seven young women who claimed the entrepreneur's film crews had placed them in sexually explicit situations.

Francis, the Santa Monica-based multimillionaire who has made a fortune selling risque videos of scantily clad coeds, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak to surrender to court by noon Thursday, but hadn't done so by mid-evening.

Francis told the Associated Press late Thursday that Smoak "had lost his mind."

"This judge has gone as far as to call me the devil and an evildoer," he said. "It is a case of a judge gone wild."

The court order followed a last-minute collapse in settlement talks between Francis' legal team and lawyers for the women, who were filmed on a Florida beach in 2003. The plaintiffs allege that they were "victimized" by Francis' crew by being put in explicit scenes.

"It is not the judge's role to compel a settlement with the threat of putting one of the parties in jail," said Francis lawyer Jan L. Handzlik, who is appealing the judge's order.

Plaintiffs' attorney Larry Selander declined to comment.

Smoak originally found Francis, 34, in contempt last week after plaintiffs' lawyers complained that Francis had shouted obscenities at their clients in a March 21 outburst during the settlement negotiations.

Smoak ordered Francis jailed if an accord had not been reached in the case by Saturday, but he suspended that order when it appeared that a deal had been struck.

At an emergency hearing Wednesday, a lawyer for the plaintiffs told the judge that he thought the case was resolved but then learned Francis had altered the offer, making it unacceptable to his clients.

A mediator said Francis insisted on a payment plan that would stretch several years.

"He may have snookered us and gotten out Saturday, but he's coming back," Smoak said.

The judge reinstated his civil contempt order, which means Francis could be jailed until a formal mediation session is set up and he participates in a "meaningful" way.

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The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.

I heard he did some things with some underagers, but i never read the actual charges till today. Wow... double wow. How is it that he is not going to jail for CP?

he'll be fine.

Damm ...

sucks but he'll get through it and continue to be rich. It comes with the territory.

He isn't very smart at times it appears.

"This judge has gone as far as to call me the devil and an evildoer," he said. "It is a case of a judge gone wild."

:1orglaugh

Like I said.

It sucks that you see these girls doing shit of their own free will, sign the release, and get remorseful and try and sue. I don't know the particulars of the case, but this isn't the first time someone had remorse, after they sobered up and their parents gave them the "How could you?" speech, or their job let them go for being an idiot.

When i was a driver, we has these guys one weekend, that booked our cars to film a "Behind the scenes in Limousines " type thing.

It is amazing that if you walk up to a girls and say "show me your tits", she will likely slap you. But if you say its going to be on HBO or Showtime, or whatever, they are completely on board, and will get into a Limo full of booze with strangers with cameras , giggling the whole time.
You can get them to sign a mortgage at that point.

sounds like bs, i would have liked to see him go down for the thing with underage girls back when it happened though.

how exactly does one get sentenced to jail in a lawsuit?

Read it. "Contempt of Court."

I doubt he'll go to jail.

Generally, you cannot enter into a legal contract with someone under 18.
A minor (usually, a person under 18 years of age) who makes a contract can rescind or void it.

His empire is worth over 2 billion, money talks, he wont do jailtime and he knows it.

rich men dont go to jail , if any of us filmed a 17 yr old girl our asses would be sitting in jail for a long time and then we can look forward to be registered as a sex offender when we got out. I feel no sympathy for him.

Anyone that accepts a release by someone who is drunk is a fool..

dat sucks he knows some mackin chicklets id like to step into his life for a tic shag em up propa

I dont know why they consider 17 to be a minor.
If a 17 yr old get locked up for shoplifting they
will go to an adult jail & be charged as an ADULT.

Why are they trying to have it both ways :disgust

True. But I live in a town where taking money from drunks is how the economy is stimulated, so maybe my focus on reality is a little blurry.

Booze usually has that affect!

So, is Florida adult entertainment friendly or no? I keep reading horror stories like this which make me think I should stay out of there.

There might be exceptions, depending on where you are at, but in general it's about as adult entertainment friendly as the Vatican.

100% agree.