Joe Francis, chief executive and founder of the company that makes Girls Gone Wild, videos, pleaded guilty Monday to charges he failed to document the ages of performers in his videos.
The plea was part of an agreement announced earlier this month, between Francis and federal prosecutors who were investigating whether Francis’ Mantra Films company had filmed minors in sexually explicit activities, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Under the deal, Francis agreed to personally pay $500,000 for failing to keep records of the ages and identities of women who performed in his Girls Gone Wild videos. Francis admitted earlier this month that he shot footage of minors for at least two videos his company released.
The videos show young women exposing their breasts and at times, masturbating themselves.
His company, Mantra Films, pleaded guilty earlier this month to 10 felony violations of , Section 2257 of Title 18, Part I, Chapter 110 of the United States Code, which requires producers maintain proper records outlining the age and identity of all performers. The company agreed to pay $1.6 million in fines.
A judge told Francis that the maximum sentence he could have received in the case would have been 10 years in prison, but under the deal, he would receive no jail time but would have to pay a fine.
Francis admitted that his Girls Gone Wild videos Totally Exposed Uncensored and Beyond, volumes 1 to 12 failed to comply with federal record-keeping requirements nor carry labels which indicate where the documentation could be found.
But Francis’ attorney, Aaron S. Dyer, said the company has improved its record-keeping efforts since the federal investigation began last year. But he reiterated that the guilty pleas were for record-keeping offenses and not for the more serious sexual exploitation of a minor.
Dyer said that the underage girls who appeared in the videos lied about their age to the company, adding that the company will not allow any underage girl to lie in order to appear on camera again.
