From WJHG: Plea Deal Could End Girls Gone Wild Case

Joe Francis is on his way back to Bay County to face his long-standing felony charges.

Just last week a federal judge in Reno, Nevada, refused to grant Francis' motion that would have prevented him from being returned to Bay County, if he posted bond.

Francis has said in the past, he'd rather stay in jail in Reno, than return to Bay County.

However, apparently that's changed. Some kind of deal is in the works, but the details have not been finalized.

According to the local state attorney's office, they're still negotiating the terms of a plea agreement with Francis' Lawyer Roy Black, and the rest of his defense team.

The charges Francis faces stem from his crews videotaping underage girls in Panama City Beach during spring break, in 2003.

Bay County sheriff's deputies seized hundreds of video tapes, camera equipment, Francis' private jet, his Ferrari sports car and hundreds of other personal items during their raid of the Girls Gone Wild condos in March 2003.

Francis posted bond and went on about his business.

In the months that followed, Circuit Judge Dedee Costello declared many of the sheriff's office search warrants invalid, tossing-out a lot of the evidence and the charges against Francis.

However, four charges remained: two counts of promoting prostitution and sexual performance of a child, and two counts of conspiracy to promote that same activity.

In early 2007, the families of the girls involved in the 2003 incident were in the process of suing Francis and Girls Gone Wild in federal court.

During the settlement talks, Francis was allegedly disruptive to the process and disrespectful to the girls' attorneys.

Therefore, Federal Judge Richard Smoak ordered Francis to return to Bay County on contempt charges.

And, when Francis didn't show up for four days, Judge Smoak ordered him jailed for nearly a month.

While in the Bay County Jail, corrections officers found prescription drugs and cash in Francis' possession.

He was charged with introducing contraband into a corrections facility.

Based on those new charges, Judge Dedee Costello revoked Francis’ bond on the original 2003 criminal charges.

By that time, Francis had already been transferred to Reno, Nevada, to face federal income tax evasion charges, where he's remained for the last 11 months.

Apparently, Francis' attorneys have decided to negotiate the local charges, considering them to be more of a distraction at this point, to the more serious federal tax charges, which could get Francis between eight to10 years in prison.

Some of the negotiating points could be what charges Francis will plead guilty to, what happens to all of the items the local authorities seized, what happens to some of the legal actions Francis has threatened to file against the state attorney's office and the Bay County Sheriff's Office, and what kind of fines, penalties and court costs would Francis' companies end up paying.

As for Francis, he's not saying anything about a deal, but he did send us an email Monday afternoon, saying he's posting bond in Reno today, so he can immediately return to Florida to face the charges.

He says he'll be released Monday afternoon or Monday evening.

He also thanks those who supported him through what he calls "the past 11 months of hell."

Prosecutors say they just faxed an order to Circuit Judge Dedee Costello, with the final conditions of the plea deal.

If Francis and his lawyers agree, then the case is over.

It’s set for a hearing this Wednesday.

Good article, that was my first year in pcb for spring break and def remember that happening.

From TMZ:

A TMZ spy just spotted "Girls Gone Wild" head man Joe Francis at the Delta terminal in Atlanta moments ago, heading to Florida for a hearing that may clear up his Sunshine State legal mess once and for all. Check out that man-mane!

Francis will be in a Panama City, Fla. courtroom in a few hours, where, sources tell us, he will most likely be working out a plea deal with the State's Attorney.

That guy is an idiot for what he did. All he had to do was lay low while out on bail and it wouldn't have been so bad for him.

As long as they keep putting out those 2 dvds for $10 I could care less where Joe is....

Joe Francis is a free man, as far as Bay County is concerned.

The Girls Gone Wild creator has entered into an agreement with the state that resolves both his 2003 and 2007 criminal cases.

Francis pleaded no contest to a felony charge of child abuse and two misdemeanor charges of prostitution. All three of which involved videotaping underage girls by Girls Gone Wild crews in Panama City Beach in 2003.

He also pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of violating posted jail rules. He was caught with prescription drugs in his jail cell last April.

Francis was transferred to Reno in May, to face a federal income tax evasion indictment.

His attorneys decided to settle the Bay County charges on Wednesday, to concentrate on the federal case.

As part of the state's deal, Francis withdrew his motion to dismiss his case based on prosecutorial misconduct.

He's also agreed not to return to the Panhandle with Girls Gone Wild for three years.

In addition, Francis agreed to waive any claims against the Bay County Sheriff's Office including his Ferrari that authorities confiscated in 2003.

The sheriff's office will give back the sports car in ‘as is’ condition.

Circuit Judge Dedee Costello adjudicated Francis and his company guilty of one felony count each of child abuse.

Francis is being credited for the 336-days of jail time he's already served in Nevada.

And, as for violating jail rules, Francis will be credited for 29 days of incarceration here in Bay County.

In addition to the agreement, Francis and his company will have to pay more than $60,000 dollars in fines and court costs.

'as is' condition for his ferrari, 3 years no ggw on panhandle and 60k in court fees ouch.

I was ahead of that... using public info to track his plane (flightaware.com... you can track or set up reminders for many corporate planes based on tail number). Down to Miami to pick up his attorneys, then to PC, then back to drop off the legal people, then home to California.

Bottom Line: Joe is no saint. But... he was forced into mediation with counsel which were friends of the judge.

Then... he was jailed for getting hot under the collar during that mediation. The crux of the case... no legal grounds there.

Bottom Line: They have to cut Joe loose, or he goes on the air (print and TV) in every tourism feeder market for PCB with an infomercial in a news-style format with the facts about his case. How if you get arrested in Bay County, your legal rights don't exist.

Same as he did with all those ad buys in the News Herald... except with a "Look at how the justice system works in PCB... do you really want to vacation there and risk 'Bay County Justice' if you get on the wrong side of the law?"

Joe showed he'd toss his entire (and successful) media knowledge to turn a spotlight on the Bay County legal system (judges and lawyers who were close friends... and putting a defendant into mediation in an illegal way... with jail for someone who didn't play nice in mediation).

Side Note: Mediation is just that... two sides getting together to talk. You can say whatever you want and since it isn't a legal procedure, you can't (outside of Bay County) get tossed in jail based on it.

The plea bargain is the best thing Bay County could see. Francis would have otherwise eventually taken his message to the world.

And... despite what anyone thinks about what he does... a man who makes $29 million a year gets the attention of others who control the same kind of money. And who can pick and choose where they invest and/or vacation.

I know that this Joe Francis deal has made me think twice about Bay County. Love the area, but don't exactly want to end up in solitary confinement or forced (illegal) mediation against the friends of the judge if I burp in the wrong direction.

wait, GGW is gone from panama city for 3 years? good thing me and my friends are bringing down 2 vid cams, we are gonna clean up

Make sure you bring back-up batteries too! Nothing worse than carrying around a dead video camera.