N.Y. Post: EMPLOYEES of “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis are fuming that he won’t pay for the lawyers they need after they were arrested this week on racketeering and other charges. One of the eight crew members who turned themselves in to Bay County, Fla., authorities Thursday tells us Francis said, “I am going to get you public defenders.” The employee adds, “It shows what an insane jerk Joe Francis is.” Francis responds, “I put up a million somolies in bail for these guys. I flew them down in my private jet so that they wouldn’t have to spend more than an hour in jail.” A lawyer for Francis’ Mantra Entertainment chimes in, “Comments about public defenders are premature.”
Back story: Last week eight “Girls Gone Wild” camera and production crew members surrendered to authorities in response to charges stemming from allegations they had videotaped underage girls exposing themselves during spring break.
The suspects, most of them from California, were released on bond after checking in at the Bay County Jail. They are set for arraignment Nov. 13 on charges that include prostitution, selling obscene material, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and racketeering.
“We believe that the charges have no merit,” said Aaron Dyer, a Los Angeles lawyer for Joe Francis, who heads Mantra Films Inc., which produces the “Girls Gone Wild” videos. “It’s outrageous that the government is taking the step of charging these individuals.”
Francis, 30, of Las Vegas, also is free on bond. He initially was arrested in April at Panama City Beach after parents complained to police that Mantra, based in Santa Monica, Calif., was filming underage girls.
Dyer said underage girls seen on the tapes had lied about their ages.
Francis later returned to the Florida Panhandle to face additional charges that brought the total to 43 counts, including racketeering and using a child in a sexual performance. The maximum penalties total 335 years in prison.
A hearing is set Nov. 5 on a motion to dismiss charges that Francis was trafficking in hydrocodone, a painkiller. Dyer said his client had a legitimate prescription for five pills that were confiscated from him.
At the hearing, Mantra also will ask for the return of about 150 of 200 seized tapes on grounds they show no underage girls.
The tapes, instead, will help Francis prove Mantra is a legitimate business, not a racketeering organization, Dyer said. Racketeering is the most serious of the charges that Francis and some of the other defendants face.
A Dec. 11 trial is set on the seizure of a 2002 Ferrari sports car in connection with the alleged crimes. Authorities also initially confiscated a business jet leased by Mantra, but it was returned to its owner.