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Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American softcore pornographer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program Real TV (1996) before releasing the direct-to-video film Banned from Television (1998).
Francis has, on several occasions, been convicted of bribery, false imprisonment, assault causing great bodily injury, dissuading a witness, record-keeping violations and tax evasion; in 2015, he pleaded Nolo contendere to child abuse and prostitution. Also in 2015, after being convicted for imprisoning three women at his Hollywood home (and assaulting one of them), he fled the United States and has lived at Casa Aramara in Punta Mita, Nayarit, Mexico, ever since, attempting to avoid extradition. Francis has since faced more sexual assault allegations, including allegations of engaging in sex with underage partners and nonconsensual sexual encounters with multiple women.
Francis attended the University of Southern California's Business Administration program, concentrating his education at the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. He also took several courses in film and television, graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree from the USC Entrepreneurial Program.
Other footage included the murder of Pete Shrum, the murder of Lea Mek, the attempted suicide of Terry Rossland, the extrajudicial execution by burning of Rodolfo Soler Hernandez, footage of the 1998 Cúa hostage crisis, footage of a 1990 Lucas Oil 200 (ARCA) race in which Slick Johnson was killed and paramedic Mike Staley injured, and the deaths of motorcycle stunt riders Corey Scott and Butch Laswell. Due to the films' graphic content, Francis stopped the series after three films, because he found it too disturbing to watch them back-to-back. While viewing footage for inclusion on Banned from Television, Francis came across footage of female college students flashing their breasts during Mardi Gras in New Orleans and at various spring break parties. It was this footage that sparked Francis's next business venture with Girls Gone Wild.
The first film in the series was rejected by the British Board of Film Classification for sensationalizing real-world graphic violence and was also refused a classification by the Australian Classification Board in 2007.
In 2005, the company planned to donate 100% of the gross sales of their Mardi Gras-themed DVDs to the Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Abbey Wilson, who won the franchise's "Search for the Hottest Girl in America" contest in 2012, became Francis' long-term girlfriend. The two appeared on season 3 of the VH1 reality series Couples Therapy. In 2013, Wilson's iPad, containing private sexual videos of Francis and Wilson, was stolen; in retaliation, and to prevent distribution of the video before it was sold to any media outlets, his lawyer, David Houston, said that the thief, when caught, would be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of both the criminal and civil laws." In 2014, Wilson became pregnant with twins via in vitro fertilization. On October 7, 2014, she gave birth to two girls.
In February 2012, Clark County, Nevada, judge Mark Denton awarded $7.5 million to businessman Steve Wynn for defamation statements made by Francis. In September 2012, a jury awarded a further $20 million to Wynn in a slander case against Francis, claiming that Wynn had threatened to kill him over a gambling debt. Francis' witnesses all denied hearing Wynn make such threats. The jury added an additional $20 million in punitive damages. In November 2012, Judge Joanne O'Donnell reduced Wynn's award to $19 million, reasoning that the jury's decision was "speculative" and formed based on their dislike of Francis.
As part of his January 2015 Nolo contendere plea to child abuse and prostitution charges, Francis also agreed to settle a 2003 lawsuit which involved allegations of videotaping the exposed breasts of underage girls.
Francis later pleaded guilty for having contraband in his cell. He served 339 days and paid over $60,000 in fines.
In January 2011, Francis brought a group of three women to his home, leading to five charges: three misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, one of assault causing great bodily injury, and one of dissuading a witness. On May 6, 2013, Francis was convicted on all five charges. He faced a maximum of five years in prison and/or $13,000 in fines. On May 22, 2013, Francis gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter, in which he claimed the jurors were jealous of "who" he is, calling them "mentally fucking retarded" and suggesting they "should be euthanized". Furthermore, he called for the jury to be arrested and executed in prison by firing squad. He later apologized for his remarks, saying that he had been manipulated by the media.
On August 27, 2013, Francis was sentenced to serve at least 270 days in county jail, 36 months' probation, and was ordered to complete a Level 3 anger management course and a year of psychological counseling. Francis' attorneys immediately filed a new trial petition.
On March 25, 2015, Francis was sentenced to 336 days in jail after pleading Nolo contendere to child abuse and prostitution charges stemming from the filming of underage girls during taping of the Girls Gone Wild series in the popular spring break destination of Panama City, Florida. However, the judge credited him for a year of time previously served in Reno, Nevada, and so he did not serve any additional jail time. He was placed on a six month period of probation and barred from filming in the area for a period of three years. His lawyers claimed that the girls had lied about their ages to a cameraman and that the footage was never published.
In April 2008, the venue for the trial was changed to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. At a hearing in July 2008, Francis pleaded not guilty to tax evasion. His attorney, Robert Bernhoft, said that tax returns for the businesses were prepared and filed by a former accountant and not shown to Francis. Bernhoft said that when the accountant left the company, he reported the returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to collect a bonus from the Tax Whistleblower Program.
In September 2009, Francis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of filing a false return and bribery. He received credit for time served. In November 2009, U.S. District Judge S. James Otero accepted Francis's plea including $250,000 in restitution to the IRS.
In May 2015, a U.S. District Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Francis after he failed to comply with terms of his bankruptcy agreement. As of 2015, he was reportedly living in Mexico with his girlfriend and their twin daughters. Extradition treaties between the U.S. and Mexico are not applicable for civil contempt warrants.Kardashian Pal And Girls Gone Wild Creator Joe Francis Has A Warrant Issued For His Arrest. perezhilton.com . Retrieved April 6, 2016.
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