Joe Francis

Francis' attorney, Robert Bernhoft, said that tax returns for the businesses were prepared and filed by a former corporate accountant without being shown to Francis. Bernhoft said that when the accountant left the companies, the accountant contacted the IRS to report the accounting mistakes with the hope of collecting a bonus from the government Tax Whistleblower Program. Read Less

Witnesses who Francis claimed can justify his allegations all denied ever hearing or seeing Wynn making such threats. One day after this verdict the same jury doubled the amount in damages awarded to Wynn with another $20 million in punitive damages. The decision was made after a compelling argument from Wynn's attorney, Barry Langberg, who asked jurors to double their initial verdict to compensate Wynn for damage to his reputation and casino empire stating "It tells Mr. Francis and the world, you cannot do this". Francis attorney plans to appeal the verdicts.

In Panama City Beach, Florida, during spring break 2003, officials attempted to prevent filming of Girls Gone Wild videos on the beach. Francis sued the officials, claiming violation of his First Amendment rights, and got them to settle and back down. The same officials subsequently arrested Francis for racketeering, confiscated his private jet, and later released him on a $165,000 bond. At a July 27, 2006 hearing, the judge disallowed most of the evidence, and on January 4, 2007 dismissed most of the charges, ruling that the evidence did not support the allegations, and the seized assets were returned. Francis pleaded guilty to 18 U.S.C. § 2257 record keeping violations and was fined $1.6 million and sentenced to perform community service. Francis also allegedly offered a guard one hundred dollars for bottled water and prescription medications while in jail. Read Less