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Wild Girls Drop Francis Suit

Mon., Oct. 15, 2007 9:48 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Joe Francis has made a fortune peddling X-rated videos. Now, one of them may have saved him from having to pay someone else a small fortune.

Two young women suing Francis in federal court for allegedly reneging on a deal not to use footage of them in a Girls Gone Wild production dropped their lawsuit Monday, supposedly with no money exchanging hands, after a video posted on Francis' Website showed them giving permission for the show to go on.

"I, Brooke Patsolic and I, Christina Brose, acknowledge that Mantra Films Inc., Girls Gone Wild and Joe Francis have suffered as a result of this lawsuit and our actions," the erstwhile plaintiffs said in a joint statement.

"We have agreed to dismiss our lawsuit and acknowledge that no money has been paid to either of us. Further, we understand that by dismissing this action, [the aforementioned parties] have agreed not to pursue legal action against us stemming from the filing of the lawsuit."

In the exculpatory video, which the incarcerated entrepreneur posted on www.meetjoefrancis.com on Oct. 1, Brose says, "You have my full permission to put this on anything, I don't care."

"Tomorrow, we're going to be like, 'What the f--k were we doing?" Pastolic adds.

Francis' camp had questioned why Brose and Patsolic filed their lawsuit in Panama City, Florida, rather than in Orlando, where the tape was made. The defendant had issued statements in which he suggested that their choice of court, the same one where Francis was cited for contempt after losing his cool during a mediation hearing in March, was not a coincidence.

The 34-year-old GGW creator eventually settled the civil suit that was being mediated, brought against him by seven women who claimed they were underage when they put on a show for Mantra's cameras, for an amount he would only refer to as "a lot."

"These kinds of false allegations are exactly what put Joe Francis in jail," Francis' attorney, David Houston, said Monday. "It's time people started asking questions and learn the truth."

Francis, whose lawyers have been working overtime for the past year, sounded a similar war cry. "I am tired of these lies being used against me in an attempt to extort money from me and destroy my name," he said in a statement. "I am prepared to fight back, and I will defend myself against all baseless allegations against me.

"I only wish the court would permit me to post footage of the other women in Panama City who lied about their ages on camera and falsified written releases—because doing so would likely put an instant end to that case as well."

But while Francis is keeping the civil courts at bay for the time being, he's still facing a world of hurt where the federal government is concerned.

He's currently cooling his heels in a Reno prison, awaiting trial on tax-evasion charges, proceedings that have been postponed until April 2008.

Meanwhile, if Francis were to be released, Florida courts are just itching to lock him up again before his trial on six felony counts of prostitution, racketeering and conspiracy, stemming from a GGW shoot in 2003, as well as two counts of transporting contraband into a jail cell during his 35-day stint for contempt in April, during which he was caught with prescription meds.

Prosecutors have said Francis won't stand trial in Florida until the Nevada case is resolved.