“Girls Gone Wild” Creator Sentenced to Jail Time for Assault
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Angela Weiss/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — The man behind the Girls Gone Wild series of videos has been sentenced to 270 days in jail for an altercation he had with three women in 2011.
Joe Francis was also sentenced Tuesday to three years’ probation and a year of psychological counseling, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The women had claimed they met Francis at a Hollywood club and entered his limo, believing they would receive a ride to their car. Instead, the victims said, they were taken to Francis’ home, where a dispute arose and he allegedly grabbed one of them by the throat and hair before slamming her head into the floor four times. Authorities said Francis also threatened the women if they called police.
Francis, 40, was convicted earlier this year of three counts of false imprisonment, one count of dissuading a witness from reporting and one count of assault causing great bodily injury.
Francis tells TMZ.com the sentence is “ridiculous” and “absurd” and he has filed an appeal.
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