×
You have 2 more free articles available this month. Subscribe today.
Soft Porn, Bribery and Jailed Millionaire Make for a Dangerous Mix
In April 2007, Joe Francis, 36, the multi-millionaire founder of the popular soft porn Girls Gone Wild videos – which consist of young women exposing themselves at parties, clubs and spring break – was charged with federal tax evasion for claiming about $20 million in fraudulent deductions on his income tax returns and for keeping money in offshore accounts.
In an unrelated prosecution, Francis was indicted in Panama City, Florida on more than 70 counts of prostitution, conspiracy, drug offenses, racketeering and using minors in a sexual performance (the latter charges resulted when Girls Gone Wild filmed several 17-year-olds who reportedly lied about their age). Almost all of the Florida charges were eventually dismissed. Francis claimed he was prosecuted in retaliation for a successful First Amendment suit he had filed against city officials after they tried to stop him from filming a Girls Gone Wild video during spring break in 2003.
While held at the Bay County jail in Panama City after being incarcerated on a federal criminal contempt charge in a lawsuit brought by underage girls who had appeared in Girls Gone Wild footage, Francis was accused of receiving contraband from a visitor, Scott Barbour, the CEO of Mantra Films, Inc. Mantra Films produces the Girls Gone Wild videos.
Both Barbour and Francis were charged with smuggling contraband, which included cash and anti-anxiety medication. Francis denied the charges, claiming he had brought the items into the jail himself when he was booked without being searched. “I didn’t do anything,” he said at a court hearing. He was also accused of offering a jail guard $500 for a bottled water. The charges against Barbour were dropped after Francis later pleaded no contest to two contraband-related misdemeanors.
Francis alleged he was mistreated at the Bay County jail; he said guards didn’t give him toilet paper or meals, and he was forced to wear ankle restraints that were too tight. “They treated me like I was a terrorist,” he stated. “They’d put my food just out of reach and laugh with each other, ‘Oh, I guess Joe wasn’t hungry today.’” He described Bay County jail officials as “scary people.”
Francis was moved to the Grady County Law Enforcement Center in Oklahoma in May 2008, and remained there for 17 days before being transferred to a facility in Reno, Nevada, where his tax evasion case was being prosecuted. While at the Grady County jail, Francis claimed that guards denied him food and a blanket, and threatened to strip him naked and put him in a restraint chair. Jail officials denied the allegations. “Mr. Francis was treated like every inmate that comes through the Grady County Law Enforcement Center,” said jail administrator Shane Wyatt.
Francis was held in the special needs unit at the Washoe County jail in Reno after being moved from Oklahoma. Be-tween July and August 2009, federal prosecutors filed bribery charges against Girls Gone Wild marketing executive Aaron Weinstein and three Washoe County jail employees, related to Francis’ stay at the facility.
According to the indictment, Weinstein provided $3,200 and four Oakland Raiders tickets to Ralph Hawkins, a former sheriff’s deputy, to bring sushi, barbecued chicken and other types of food to Francis. Weinstein allegedly gave a new television, a home entertainment system and an airline ticket to Mary Boxx, a former classification specialist, for providing Francis with magazines in violation of jail rules.
Weinstein also was accused of giving a $4,500 Cartier watch and a $5,000 Saks Fifth Avenue gift card to Sergeant Michon Mills, a former jail supervisor, in exchange for protecting Francis from disciplinary charges and allowing him “al-most unrestrained access to telephones.”
Further, bribery charges were filed against Francis for trying to obtain preferential treatment at the jail. The cases against Boxx and Mills are still pending; Hawkins pleaded guilty and received three years probation and a $4,000 fine. On December 8, 2009, Weinstein entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of providing contraband. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, 2010. See: United States v. Weinstein, U.S.D.C. (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:09-cr-00066.
Francis was released from the Washoe County jail on $1.5 million bond in March 2008 after serving a total of 11 months in Florida, Oklahoma and Nevada. He returned to Florida and on March 12, 2008 pleaded no contest to three felony child abuse charges and two misdemeanor prostitution charges stemming from the original 70-plus count Panama City indictment. Francis also pleaded no contest to the contraband charges involving the Bay County jail.
He was sentenced to 339 days with time served, plus over $60,000 in fines, court costs and restitution. Additionally, he agreed not to film Girls Gone Wild videos in several Florida counties for three years. “I have never committed any crime. I pleaded guilty just to get out of jail,” he said in his defense.
Francis’ tax evasion case was transferred from Nevada to California, and he pleaded guilty in September 2009 to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion and one felony bribery charge involving the Washoe County jail. He was sentenced on November 6, 2009 to time served plus one year on supervised release, $249,705 in restitution and a $10,000 fine. The IRS has since filed a $33.8 million tax lien against him for unreported income. See: United States v. Francis, U.S.D.C. (C.D. Cal.), Case No. 2:08-cr-00494-SJO.
For a multi-millionaire like Joe Francis, his criminal prosecution and 11-month incarceration must have been troubling, perhaps even traumatic. However, the “justice gone wild” nature of our nation’s criminal justice system is an everyday occurrence for the 2.3 million men and women held in U.S. prisons and jails on any given day. Most of those prisoners can’t afford high-priced attorneys or $1.5 million bonds, and lack the privileged status and financial resources to bribe guards for preferential treatment.
Sources: Associated Press, USA Today, www.newsherald.com, Nevada U.S. Attorney press release, www.la.metbogs.com, www.eonline.com
In an unrelated prosecution, Francis was indicted in Panama City, Florida on more than 70 counts of prostitution, conspiracy, drug offenses, racketeering and using minors in a sexual performance (the latter charges resulted when Girls Gone Wild filmed several 17-year-olds who reportedly lied about their age). Almost all of the Florida charges were eventually dismissed. Francis claimed he was prosecuted in retaliation for a successful First Amendment suit he had filed against city officials after they tried to stop him from filming a Girls Gone Wild video during spring break in 2003.
While held at the Bay County jail in Panama City after being incarcerated on a federal criminal contempt charge in a lawsuit brought by underage girls who had appeared in Girls Gone Wild footage, Francis was accused of receiving contraband from a visitor, Scott Barbour, the CEO of Mantra Films, Inc. Mantra Films produces the Girls Gone Wild videos.
Both Barbour and Francis were charged with smuggling contraband, which included cash and anti-anxiety medication. Francis denied the charges, claiming he had brought the items into the jail himself when he was booked without being searched. “I didn’t do anything,” he said at a court hearing. He was also accused of offering a jail guard $500 for a bottled water. The charges against Barbour were dropped after Francis later pleaded no contest to two contraband-related misdemeanors.
Francis alleged he was mistreated at the Bay County jail; he said guards didn’t give him toilet paper or meals, and he was forced to wear ankle restraints that were too tight. “They treated me like I was a terrorist,” he stated. “They’d put my food just out of reach and laugh with each other, ‘Oh, I guess Joe wasn’t hungry today.’” He described Bay County jail officials as “scary people.”
Francis was moved to the Grady County Law Enforcement Center in Oklahoma in May 2008, and remained there for 17 days before being transferred to a facility in Reno, Nevada, where his tax evasion case was being prosecuted. While at the Grady County jail, Francis claimed that guards denied him food and a blanket, and threatened to strip him naked and put him in a restraint chair. Jail officials denied the allegations. “Mr. Francis was treated like every inmate that comes through the Grady County Law Enforcement Center,” said jail administrator Shane Wyatt.
Francis was held in the special needs unit at the Washoe County jail in Reno after being moved from Oklahoma. Be-tween July and August 2009, federal prosecutors filed bribery charges against Girls Gone Wild marketing executive Aaron Weinstein and three Washoe County jail employees, related to Francis’ stay at the facility.
According to the indictment, Weinstein provided $3,200 and four Oakland Raiders tickets to Ralph Hawkins, a former sheriff’s deputy, to bring sushi, barbecued chicken and other types of food to Francis. Weinstein allegedly gave a new television, a home entertainment system and an airline ticket to Mary Boxx, a former classification specialist, for providing Francis with magazines in violation of jail rules.
Weinstein also was accused of giving a $4,500 Cartier watch and a $5,000 Saks Fifth Avenue gift card to Sergeant Michon Mills, a former jail supervisor, in exchange for protecting Francis from disciplinary charges and allowing him “al-most unrestrained access to telephones.”
Further, bribery charges were filed against Francis for trying to obtain preferential treatment at the jail. The cases against Boxx and Mills are still pending; Hawkins pleaded guilty and received three years probation and a $4,000 fine. On December 8, 2009, Weinstein entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of providing contraband. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, 2010. See: United States v. Weinstein, U.S.D.C. (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:09-cr-00066.
Francis was released from the Washoe County jail on $1.5 million bond in March 2008 after serving a total of 11 months in Florida, Oklahoma and Nevada. He returned to Florida and on March 12, 2008 pleaded no contest to three felony child abuse charges and two misdemeanor prostitution charges stemming from the original 70-plus count Panama City indictment. Francis also pleaded no contest to the contraband charges involving the Bay County jail.
He was sentenced to 339 days with time served, plus over $60,000 in fines, court costs and restitution. Additionally, he agreed not to film Girls Gone Wild videos in several Florida counties for three years. “I have never committed any crime. I pleaded guilty just to get out of jail,” he said in his defense.
Francis’ tax evasion case was transferred from Nevada to California, and he pleaded guilty in September 2009 to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion and one felony bribery charge involving the Washoe County jail. He was sentenced on November 6, 2009 to time served plus one year on supervised release, $249,705 in restitution and a $10,000 fine. The IRS has since filed a $33.8 million tax lien against him for unreported income. See: United States v. Francis, U.S.D.C. (C.D. Cal.), Case No. 2:08-cr-00494-SJO.
For a multi-millionaire like Joe Francis, his criminal prosecution and 11-month incarceration must have been troubling, perhaps even traumatic. However, the “justice gone wild” nature of our nation’s criminal justice system is an everyday occurrence for the 2.3 million men and women held in U.S. prisons and jails on any given day. Most of those prisoners can’t afford high-priced attorneys or $1.5 million bonds, and lack the privileged status and financial resources to bribe guards for preferential treatment.
Sources: Associated Press, USA Today, www.newsherald.com, Nevada U.S. Attorney press release, www.la.metbogs.com, www.eonline.com
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login