Francis had since been transferred to a jail in Nevada after the federal tax-evasion charges took precedence jurisdictionally over the earlier Florida case. He pleaded no contest in March to criminal charges of prostitution and child abuse in Florida he says now that he entered the plea just to get out of jail. Francis is fighting legal battles on two coasts. “But that’s a different subject.”įor now, Mr. “A lot of people don’t like what he markets,” Mr. Francis to appear on his NBC television show, “Celebrity Apprentice.” Trump, the real estate mogul, says that Mr. After finding a clip of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, in which women were lifting their T-shirts, he founded Mantra Films in 1997 and established his “Girls Gone Wild” business.ĭonald J. Francis worked in reality television at first, then began buying grisly news footage for his own direct-marketing business, called Banned From Television. “At the end of the day, I’m selling naked girls. “I’m not selling Bibles, you know,” he said. Francis said in a recent telephone interview. “I’ve been called everything from a rapist to a drug trafficker to a racketeer to an obscenity pornographer,” Mr. Francis, who says he is a victim, pointed out that his media empire - which sells DVDs of college students partying on spring break, getting drunk and being coaxed to take off their clothes - was one that many people would like to shut down. Last month, he pleaded not guilty and a trial was scheduled for Sept. Federal prosecutors indicted him on charges of tax evasion in April 2007. But this time, he is doing battle with an antagonist with enormous influence - the I.R.S. Francis filed a civil suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the accountant, Michael Barrett. with the goal of reaping a bounty for turning in a tax cheat. Francis says that his internal accountant set him up, filing the 20 tax returns in question for Mantra Films and then blowing the whistle to the I.R.S. Even if he is acquitted, the Internal Revenue Service could still seek back taxes, plus penalties and interest. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. Francis will be tried in Los Angeles on federal charges that he deducted $20 million in fraudulent expenses on the corporate tax returns filed by his company, Mantra Films. The veracity of his claim is likely to be decided in September, when Mr. Francis who says he was fooled - not by a cameraman, but by his accountant. LOS ANGELES - As founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” franchise, Joe Francis has often been accused of duping women into doing things they wish they had not, especially baring their breasts in front of a video camera.
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