“Girls Gone Wild” mogul Joe Francis has settled the case that landed him in a jail, David Angier reports on Panama City NEWSHERALD.com (dead link – see cache). Francis seems to be making an effort to appear diplomatic prior to his bail hearing set for today, leading up to an initial hearing on the criminal contempt charge set for April 23.
“I deeply regret some of the things I said about the plaintiffs’ lawyers, the judge and the entire case,” Francis said.
Scott Barbour, president of Mantra Films Inc., the company that puts out the “Girls Gone Wild” videos, said comments Francis and the spokesman made — that this was a case of “judges gone wild” — were supposed to be a joke.
Whether we’ll ever get the 11th Circuit’s opinion on the propriety of Judge Smoak’s actions in this case remains to be seen. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t.
Meanwhile, Francis has been indicted in Nevada for federal tax evasion “for deducting more than $20 million in false business expenses.”
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