Girls Guy Not Copping to Tax Evasion
Joe Francis has a private jet and millions in the bank. Neither of which is at his disposal to help him get out of this mess.
The Girls Gone Wild entrepreneur pleaded not guilty to tax evasion charges Monday in a Reno federal court, but, deemed a flight risk, he has been remanded into custody and will not be allowed to post bail until the terms of his freedom are sorted out with authorities in Florida, U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Natalie Collins told E! Online.
"We are pleased with today’s decision," Francis' attorney, Aaron Dyer, said in a statement. "Now this allows us to address the issue of bail in his Florida case."
Francis is wanted in the Sunshine State on charges of featuring underage girls in his X-rated empire in 2003 and smuggling contraband into his Bay County jail cell in April, where he was serving a month for contempt.
Florida State Attorney's Office spokesman Joe Grammer said that, due to his most recent alleged infractions, there is an outstanding motion to revoke Francis' bond on six felony counts of conspiracy, prostitution and featuring minors in his videos, stemming from a 2003 arrest in Panama City Beach.
(To Francis' credit, 40 of 46 charges he was facing from that incident were dismissed in January. The remaining charges could still net him 40 years behind bars, however.)
"If there's a warrant and a place in another jurisdiction were to free someone, they'd serve the warrants and bring him back to us," Grammer said. "We would hope that things would be done according to form and that he would be held in custody and we'd have to extradite him back."
Florida prosecutors had been trying to keep Francis in their neck of the woods, but a federal judge ruled that the tax-related charges took precedence and ordered authorities to take Francis to Nevada.
If Francis' legal reps can work something out in Florida, where they're set to travel tomorrow, Francis will be "free" to post a $1.5 million cash bond, surrender his passport to U.S. Pretrial Services, give up access to his private jet and travel only within the confines of Los Angeles, Reno and Florida until his tax-related issues are resolved.
The IRS has accused Francis of deducting more than $20 million in bogus expenses from his corporate tax returns in 2002 and 2003, as well as stashing $15 million in earnings in offshore bank accounts and outfits allegedly owned by other people. He was indicted April 11 on multiple counts of bribery and tax evasion.
A trial date has been set for July 24, while a status hearing will probably take place sometime before that, Collins said.
In the meantime, Francis is in custody tonight in Reno and, once/if he's released, will have to check in daily with Pretrial Services and get its permission if he wants to travel anywhere other than where he's wanted on criminal charges.
The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office slapped Francis in April with one misdemeanor count of sexual battery for allegedly groping an 18-year-old girl at a Hollywood party back in January. He has pleaded not guilty. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 26.
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