'Girls Gone Wild' mogul Joe Francis was sentenced on Monday to two years' probation, a $500,000 fine and 200 hours of community service for violating the federal government's 2257 record-keeping law.
The sentence is part of an ongoing case against Francis and his company Mantra Films stemming from the 2003 appearance of two 17-year-old girls in a 'Girls Gone Wild' video shot on Florida's Panama City Beach. In September 2006, Francis struck a plea bargain with the Department of Justice in which he admitted to using the footage without proper knowledge or documentation of the girls' ages.
Last month, a Florida judge slapped Mantra Films with a $1.6 million fine, ordering Francis and three other Mantra officers to perform eight hours of community service each month for a period of 30 months. Mantra is appealing the December verdict.
Francis told reporters that he has been unfairly targeted because "the government needs to make an example."
"The FBI investigated me for five years, and this is the best they could come up with," Francis said.
