May 15, 2007 2:01 pm US/Eastern
FL Prosecutors Want Joe Francis Kept In Florida
Girl Gone Wild Owner Set To Be Moved To Nevada
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PENSACOLA (CBS4) ―
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Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images for Verizon Wireless
Florida prosecutors fought to keep the Girls Gone Wild video series founder in the state Tuesday, a day after federal marshals removed him from a local jail for transport to Nevada.
Joe Francis completed a 35-day federal contempt of court sentence this week related to a federal lawsuit against him by underage girls his company filmed on Panama City Beach in 2003. If federal officials have their way, he will next face federal tax evasion charges in a Reno, Nev., court.
But Florida prosecutors want to try Francis, 34, who makes an estimated $29 million a year on videos of young women baring their breasts, on criminal charges related to the filming of the girls who sued.
"It hasn't been communicated to us whether he will stay in Florida or not. We think we will know something by the end of day," said Joe Grammer, a spokesman for State Attorney Steve Meadows.
Grammer said his office learned late Monday that federal marshals had taken Francis from the Bay County jail in Panama City to rural Jackson County near the Georgia-Alabama border.
U.S. Marshals spokesman Dominic Guadagnoli said Francis was in federal custody. Guadagnoli said the move was "a first step" in transporting Francis to Nevada.
At an emergency hearing late Monday, Florida Circuit Judge Dedee Costello told prosecutors she was not prepared "to do vigorous battle with the federal government" over Francis, the News Herald of Panama City reported.
The state prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak to keep Francis in Florida so he can be tried on the state charges.
Smoak and Francis have repeatedly clashed over the women's lawsuit. Smoak ordered Francis jailed for contempt of court during settlement negotiations in the case.
Lawyers for the women told Smoak that Francis became enraged during the settlement talks, shouting obscenities and threatening to "bury" the lawyers. Smoak ordered Francis to settle the case or go to jail.
Negotiations broke down and Smoak issued the order for his arrest on April 5. Francis initially refused to surrender and called Smoak "a judge gone wild." He did not return to Panama City until April 10.
Francis has since reached a settlement with the seven women, but the terms were undisclosed. Francis had told The Associated Press that they wanted $70 million to settle the case.
Francis' Tallahassee-based attorney for the state criminal charges did not return a phone call Tuesday from The Associated Press. Francis publicist Barry Roesler in New York said he had no immediate comment on the latest developments.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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