Girls Guru Goes to Jail
The Girls guy's wild days are over—at least until he can sort out this mess.
Girls Gone Wild mastermind Joe Francis was taken into custody in Panama City, Florida, Tuesday morning, four days after a federal judge ordered him behind bars for contempt of court.
Tom Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal's office in Pensacola, confirmed that the 34-year-old soft-porn purveyor was nabbed at Panama City International Airport as he arrived in town on a chartered jet around 6:30 a.m. to surrender to authorities. According to Miller, Francis did not turn himself in but was instead identified by awaiting marshals as he deplaned.
Francis, 34, was transported to the Bay County Jail in downtown Panama City. Hours later, federal Magistrate Larry A. Bodiford ordered Francis held without bail until a Thursday hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak.
Ronn Torossian, a publicist for Francis' Mantra Films, declined to comment on the matter saying only that Francis' camp was working on getting him out of the slammer.
Last week, Smoak issued an unusual decree ordering the creator of such racy mail-order DVDs as Girls Gone Wild: Ultimate Spring Break and Girls Gone Wild: Dormroom Fantasies incarcerated for contempt of court following a profanity-laced tirade during settlement talks in a federal lawsuit.
Smoak had previously ordered Francis to enter "good faith" negotiations with attorneys for seven underage girls who alleged he wrongfully exploited them in his salacious videos.
Tossorian has decried the lawsuit as "extortion," and both he and Francis have called Smoak's contempt-of-court order an example of "judges gone wild."
On Monday, Francis backed down, telling Fox News' Geraldo Rivera that after consulting his attorneys, he would abide by the judge's order and surrender.
"I'm not trying to hide at all," the Girls founder said. "I'm on my way to Florida right now to turn myself in and comply with the judge's order. I would never run from justice. I would never not comply with a judge's order."
Deputy U.S. Marshal P.J. Joanos said in a statement that he informed Francis' California-based lawyer, Michael Burke, that Francis could simply surrender to another law enforcement agency anywhere in the country and be extradited like any other fugitive instead of flying to Florida. But Francis decided to make his own travel arrangements.
Francis enraged the judge by cussing out the plaintiffs as both parties were about to engage in two days of mediation on Mar. 21. Smoak said that Francis not only broke a pledge to the court to negotiate in a "meaningful" way but also altered the terms of the proposed settlement at the last minute.
The miffed judge held Francis in contempt, ordering him incarcerated until he was ready to play nice. Smoak also ordered Francis to cover plaintiffs' expenses for the scotched mediation.
Francis filed emergency motion with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta requesting the panel overturn Smoak's contempt ruling. The court is reviewing the matter but has yet to issue a decision.
Until now, Francis has managed to stay out of lockup despite a litany of legal woes.
Francis pleaded guilty in December to federal criminal charges of failing to monitor the ages of the women in his videos following a 2003 shoot that included two 17-year-olds baring their breasts. He was sentenced to community service and ordered to personally pay $1.6 million in fines and publicly acknowledge wrongdoing. Mantra was fined an additional $2.1 million. He and his business empire copped a guilty plea to similar offenses in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in January.
Francis still faces state felony counts in Pensacola, Florida, for allegedly using underage performers in his DVDs, charges that could land him up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
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