Famous smut-peddler Joe Francis , the creator of the popular Girls Gone Wild series of films, has been convicted of assault, false imprisonment, and dissuading a witness. Despite the gravity of the charges against him, Francis still maintains he is innocent.
The longer rap-sheet reads like this: Francis was found guilty on one count of assault, three counts of false imprisonment and one count of “dissuading a witness from reporting” on Monday.
His verdicts close out a two-week trial in which the 40-year-old was accused of misleading female friends to believe they were hitching a ride to their car in his limo from a Hollywood club in 2011.
Francis took them to his own home instead, where he allegedly got into a physical altercation with the girls, specifically one whom he reportedly grabbed by the throat and smashed her head into the floor several times.
Francis allegedly warned them not to report the altercation to authorities, but the women did anyway.
In a statement to E! News , Francis stressed that he is innocent .
“I have done NOTHING wrong! This is a total joke! It did not happen and that mentally challenged jury should be put in jail!”
But it’s a hard line for Francis to sell, since this is hardly the first charge leveled against him. He has previously been convicted of charges including tax evasion, slander and bribery.
The current charges could get him five years in prison.
As if all that isn’t bad enough, Francis is also completely bankrupt. Despite Girls Gone Wild being a multi-million dollar business, Francis is millions more in debt from various legal battles and personal vices.
There’s a moral here, somewhere.
What do you think should happen to Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis?
[Image via: s_bukley, Shutterstock ]
