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"Girls Gone Wild" founder fined $500,000
(gg)
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters Life!) - The founder of
"Girls Gone Wild" videos featuring young women who
take off their tops was fined $500,000 on Monday for
violating rules designed to prevent exploitation of
minors.
Joe Francis, 33, also was ordered by a federal judge
to perform 200 hours of community service and was
placed on two years' probation as part of a plea
agreement he reached with the Justice Department last
September.
In pleading guilty to the two felony counts, Francis
admitted he knowingly included footage of two females
in his "Ultimate Spring Break" video series without
having legible documentation of their ages, as
required by law.
Prosecutors say the 2002 footage in question showed
two under-age girls, both 17 years old, engaging in
sexually explicit acts.
During Monday's sentencing hearing, Francis' lawyer,
Aaron Dyer, described his client as a "quality
individual" who was not involved in the actual filming
and had admitted only that he had failed to keep
proper records.
But Justice Department prosecutor Brent Ward told the
judge that Francis created a culture in his company
where women were plied with alcohol and taken to hotel
rooms to be filmed "with little or no regard for their
age, and without any regard for record-keeping"
requirements.
The plea deal settled a similar case brought in
Florida, where some of the videos were filmed, against
Francis's California-based company, Mantra Films Inc.
In Florida last month, Mantra was fined $1.6 million,
and Francis was ordered with other company employees
to perform community service. He is appealing that
part of the sentence.
Outside the courthouse on Monday, Francis said he was
singled out for prosecution because of the
high-profile nature of his "Girls Gone Wild" videos
and because the "government needs to make an example."
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