Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis was released from ClubFed this afternoon. Francis slept through his Monday morning court hearing. He has stated that he was suffering from the flu. He’s been ordered to get a doctor’s note, and present it on February 11th. Until then, he’ll get the bed rest his doctor has ordered—he’s been ordered to stay at home by Judge S. James Otero.
Francis faces ten years at ClubFed if found guilty of tax evasion in a trial set to begin at the end of March.
Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis faces felony tax evasion charges. This morning he was supposed to appear in Federal Court in downtown Los Angeles at 8:30a.m. He didn’t show up. After a phone call to his home wasn’t answered, a bench warrant was issued.
Mr. Francis finally appeared at 1:30p.m. It’s likely that Judge S. James Otero wasn’t thrilled with Mr. Francis’ excuse of having the flu. Mr. Francis was taken away by the US Marshal’s Service. While his defense attorney pledged to try to have him released, there’s no word on whether she was successful.
Mr. Francis is accused of improperly deducting $20 million from his corporate tax returns. Today’s hearing was so that his defense attorneys could step down because of “strategic differences of opinion.”
