Crime & Safety
'Girls Gone Wild' Producer Convicted of Misdemeanor Charges
Joe Francis gets into a scuffle with three women after meeting them at a college graduation party at the Supper Club in Hollywood.
"Girls Gone Wild" producer Joe Francis was convicted Monday of misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment, assault and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime.
Francis is facing up to five years in jail. Sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The three women victims met Francis on Jan. 29, 2011 while attending a college graduation party at the Supper Club in Hollywood. Francis took one woman into his limousine and the other two followed, thinking they were being taken to their car, Deputy City Attorney Mitch Fox said.
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Francis instead took them to his home, where he got into a scuffle with the women, grabbing one of them by the throat and hair and slamming her head onto his floor four times. He issued threats, telling them not to call the police, but the women dialed 911 immediately after they left Francis' home, Fox said.
"The victims in this case should be commended for their courage in stepping forward and reporting these attacks and for not being intimidated from seeing this matter through the justice system," City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said.
