Джо Рэнделл Фрэнсис: От Girls Gone Wild до уголовных дел и скандалов

American criminal and founder of Girls Gone Wild (born 1973)
the American film producer
Abbey Wilson, who won Girls Gone Wild's "Search for the Hottest Girl in America" contest in 2012, became Francis's long term girlfriend. The two appeared on season 3 of the VH1 reality series Couples Therapy. In 2013, Wilson's iPad, containing private sexual videos of Francis and Wilson, was stolen. In retaliation, and to prevent distribution of the video before it was sold to any media outlets, Francis's lawyer David Houston threatened, "When we catch you, we will see that you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of both the criminal and civil laws." In 2014, Wilson became pregnant with twins via in vitro fertilization. On October 7, 2014, she gave birth to two girls.

In June 2007, Ashley Alexandra Dupré alleged that Francis and his company filmed her without permission, but she dropped her lawsuit after Francis released footage showing her consent. The following year, four women sued Girls Gone Wild for allegedly filming them as minors. Francis represented himself for part of the trial, until the judge cited him for contempt of court and fined him $2,500 for asking a plaintiff during cross examination if she was a prostitute. Francis hired two lawyers the same day to represent him for the duration of his trial. In February 2012, Clark County, Nevada judge Mark Denton awarded $7.5 million to businessman Steve Wynn for defamatory statements made by Francis. In September 2012, a jury awarded $20 million to Wynn in a slander case against Francis for claiming that Wynn had threatened to kill him over a gambling debt. Francis's witnesses all denied hearing Wynn make such threats. The jury added an additional $20 million in punitive damages. In November 2012, Judge Joanne O'Donnell reduced Wynn's award to $19 million, reasoning that the jury's award was "speculative" and based on their dislike of Francis. As part of his January 2015 no contest plea to child abuse and prostitution charges, Francis also agreed to settle a 2003 lawsuit which involved allegations of videotaping the exposed breasts of underage girls. The same officials arrested Francis for racketeering; he was released on bond. At a July 2006 hearing, the judge disallowed most of the evidence and in January 2007 dismissed most of the charges. Francis pleaded guilty to record keeping violations, was fined $1.6 million and sentenced to community service. Francis later pleaded guilty for having contraband in his cell. He served 339 days and paid over $60,000 in fines. In January 2011, Francis brought a group of three women to his home, leading to five charges: three misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, one of assault causing great bodily injury, and one of dissuading a witness. On May 6, 2013, Francis was convicted on all five charges. He faced a maximum of five years in prison and/or $13,000 in fines. On May 22, Francis did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, calling the jurors "mentally retarded" and suggesting they "should be euthanized." He later apologized for his remarks, but stated that he had been manipulated by the media. On August 27, 2013, Francis was sentenced to serve at least 270 days in county jail, 36 months' probation, and was ordered to complete a Level 3 Anger Management course and a year of psychological counseling. Francis' attorneys immediately filed a new trial petition. On March 25, 2015, Francis was sentenced to 336 days in jail after pleading no contest to child abuse and prostitution charges. The Department of Justice alleged that Francis claimed over $20 million in false deductions on his corporate returns in 2002 and 2003. In April 2008, the venue for the trial was changed to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. At a hearing in July 2008, Francis pleaded not guilty to tax evasion. His attorney, Robert Bernhoft, said that tax returns for the businesses were prepared and filed by a former accountant and not shown to Francis. Bernhoft said that when the accountant left the company, he reported the returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to collect a bonus from the Tax Whistleblower Program. In September 2009, Francis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of filing a false return and bribery. He received credit for time served. In November 2009, U. S. District Judge S. James Otero accepted Francis's plea including $250,000 in restitution to the IRS.

In 2004, Riley Perez (also known as Darnell Riley) broke into Francis' home where he filmed a humiliating blackmail video and arranged for payment so that the video did not go viral. Held at gunpoint, Francis was forced to disrobe on camera. Riley has claimed that he was asked to do so by mafia criminals.

Francis's corporation GGW Brands, the parent company for the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand, filed for bankruptcy in February 2013. The bankruptcy was meant to block Wynn Resorts from seizing the assets of the company for repayment of Francis's gambling debts. In May 2015, a U. S. District Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Francis after he failed to comply with terms of his bankruptcy agreement. As of 2015, he was reportedly living in Mexico with his girlfriend and their twin daughters. Extradition treaties between the U. S. and Mexico are not applicable for civil contempt warrants.

An episode of the TNT true crime anthology series Rich & Shameless called Girls Gone Wild Exposed aired on TNT on April 23, 2022, and featured accounts from alleged victims of Joe Francis, as well as a recorded verbal altercation between Francis and his wife, who was revealed to now be estranged from him.