Joe Francis guilty of LA charges, could face jail again

Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis has been in trouble with the law before, but this time could hurt. An LA jury convicted Francis of five misdemeanor charges in connection with assaults on three women after an outing in Hollywood: three counts of false imprisonment, one count of dissuading a witness from reporting, and one count of assault causing great bodily injury. The trial lasted two weeks and could send Francis to county jail for several years. Here's the case narrative from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's office:

On January 29, 2011, the three female victims in the case went to the “Supper Club” in Hollywood to celebrate a college graduation. During the course of the evening the three had a brief conversation with Francis. After the club was closing, Francis grabbed one of the women by the hand and took her to his limo. The two other women entered the limo believing they were being taken to their car.

The group was instead taken to Francis’ gated residence, where a physical altercation took place between Francis and two of the women as he attempted to separate one away from the others. During the altercation, Francis grabbed one of the women by the throat and hair and slammed her head into the tile floor four times.

The women were eventually escorted out of the house and were threatened by Francis if they called the police. While in the taxi driving back to Hollywood, the victims called 911 and met LAPD officers at the location of their parked car. The results of the investigation were forwarded to the City Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Here's our first post on the case back in 2011. It seemed pretty bad for Francis back at the time. Since then, he lost big in court to Las Vegas impresario Steve Wynn.

Previously on LA Observed:
Joe Francis gets 2 dozen reporters to hear his tale
When Joe met weathercaster Jackie Johnson
Girlfriend gone wild
Joe Francis goes wild on LAT writer

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