http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2009/01/how-many-xes-in.html
How Many 'Xs' in Bailout?
Patt Morrison
January 7, 2009
I guess you have to give them points for trying. Just don't give them any of my money.
Porn mogul Larry Flynt and a fellow named Joe Francis, who dreamed up those "Girls Gone Wild" videos, are asking Congress for a $5-billion bailout for the porn industry.
Now, I've always read that when times get bad, porn prospers. When times are good, porn prospers. Porn, in sum, is a foolproof economic performer. These two admit that the porn industry isn't exactly facing the perils of Detroit, or even California and its budget, but as they declared in their press release, "Why take chances?"
Just in case anyone's even thinking of taking this seriously, please, Congress, don't put a $20 or any other public money in their thongs. Heck, Francis is scheduled to go on trial in a couple of months in L.A. on felony federal tax-evasion charges. That's the only kind of relationship he should have with the federal government.
But I do think that porn's lobbyists could take their case to Congress, just for the entertainment value. Back in 2001, the California porn industry went to Sacramento to lobby over taxes and Internet privacy.
Nearly two dozen porn performers, strip club operators and others campaigned office by office, handing out fliers showing just how much money their business makes in California; one of them, Nina Hartley, said, "We are a revenue generator, and we'd like a little respect."
It was a trifle ... what's the word? Awkward. But persuasive. One conservative lawmaker was "dour" when the adult industry group first showed up in his office, but after 20 or 25 minutes, he'd warmed up so much that he invited the head of the Free Speech Coalition to play golf with him.
Imagine if that act went to Capitol Hill. Trying to josh with John Kerry, maybe trying to get a laugh out of Oklahoma's Tom Coburn with a naughty joke.
One exotic performer made a huge splash in D.C. years ago. Democrat Wilbur Mills ran the House Ways and Means Committee in 1974, at least until he ran up against some cops.
They stopped him as he drove a bit woozily around the Tidal Basin at 2 o'clock in the morning, a month before the 1974 election. Drinking and driving, not such a big deal back then. But it didn't stop there. His passenger leaped into the water to get away. Her name: Fannie Fox, a.k.a. the Argentine Firecracker, a top-drawer stripper. Fox changed her stage name to the Tidal Basin Bombshell and wrote a book, "The Stripper and the Congressman."
Mills won reelection a month later -- there's no accounting for some voters' taste -- and then called it quits.
And they call those the good old days.
Showing posts with label Joe Francis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Francis. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Francis Free, Blasts "Inbred" Florida Officials
http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=254b2396-20cc-4509-9387-2b94a02bdad5
Francis Free, Blasts "Inbred" Florida Officials
By Josh Grossberg
Wed, 12 Mar 2008
Joe Francis is back in the wild.
Two days after getting sprung from a federal lockup in Reno, Nevada, the Girls Gone Wild mastermind turned up in a Panama City, Florida, courtroom on Wednesday and accepted a deal from prosecutors.
Francis agreed to plead no contest to one count of child abuse for filming underage girls, and several misdemeanors.
In exchange, a Bay County judge sentenced Francis to time served, as well as six months of "nonreporting" probation, and prohibited him and his Girls crew from filming in the county for the next three years.
"The only reason I pleaded no contest was to get out of jail. I'm 100 percent innocent of all these ridiculous charges," Francis told E! News shortly after the hearing ended. He had originally been facing four felony and two misdemeanor counts of conspiracy, prostitution and using minors in a sexual performance during a 2003 spring break shoot.
The 34-year-old boob aficionado had been holed up in a Reno cell for the past 11 months, caught in a tug-of-war between federal authorities in Nevada, who have brought a tax-dodging case against him, and the Florida State Attorney's Office, which has been trying to nail him on sexual-abuse charges.
Francis referred to his legal limbo as being in a "black hole."
His attorney, Roy Black, said it was "necessary" for Francis to take the plea deal to put the state case behind him and focus on the tax case.
Black also stated Francis was innocent of the charges.
"Even though [the girls] claimed that they were 18, signed papers saying that and said on video they were 18, because it was a strict liability offense, all of that, the court said, makes no difference," Black explained to E! News.
There was no immediate comment from prosecutors.
But shortly after tasting sweet freedom, Francis got down to slamming the Sunshine State.
"I cannot believe that I've been in jail and this was illegal," he said. "[Panama City] is a corrupt town, run by corrupt officials. This is just a whole crock...a sham with trumped-up charges.
"I am in a town of about 7,000 inbreds who are totally corrupt."
Black even lodged a prosecutorial misconduct motion against the chief prosecutor for a "pattern of blatant abuse" in his efforts to nail the infomercial kingpin.
As part of the plea agreement, Black withdrew that petition, and the state returned Francis' brand-new Ferrari and $60,000 in cash that had been confiscated.
But that didn't stop Francis from calling out Bay County officials anyway.
As for the tax case, the Girls guru said federal prosecutors offered him time served in exchange for a guilty plea, something he's not quite willing to do yet.
If convicted, he could face 10 years in prison, but Francis said he's optimistic those charges would be resolved very soon.
His publicist, Ronn Torossian, said the jiggle-happy entrepreneur planned to return to his home in Los Angeles later tonight.
"He's looking forward to watching Girls Gone Wild movies and is excited about the launch of the magazine," the rep said. "We're going to be doing some things tonight in L.A. with family and friends."
Francis Free, Blasts "Inbred" Florida Officials
By Josh Grossberg
Wed, 12 Mar 2008
Joe Francis is back in the wild.
Two days after getting sprung from a federal lockup in Reno, Nevada, the Girls Gone Wild mastermind turned up in a Panama City, Florida, courtroom on Wednesday and accepted a deal from prosecutors.
Francis agreed to plead no contest to one count of child abuse for filming underage girls, and several misdemeanors.
In exchange, a Bay County judge sentenced Francis to time served, as well as six months of "nonreporting" probation, and prohibited him and his Girls crew from filming in the county for the next three years.
"The only reason I pleaded no contest was to get out of jail. I'm 100 percent innocent of all these ridiculous charges," Francis told E! News shortly after the hearing ended. He had originally been facing four felony and two misdemeanor counts of conspiracy, prostitution and using minors in a sexual performance during a 2003 spring break shoot.
The 34-year-old boob aficionado had been holed up in a Reno cell for the past 11 months, caught in a tug-of-war between federal authorities in Nevada, who have brought a tax-dodging case against him, and the Florida State Attorney's Office, which has been trying to nail him on sexual-abuse charges.
Francis referred to his legal limbo as being in a "black hole."
His attorney, Roy Black, said it was "necessary" for Francis to take the plea deal to put the state case behind him and focus on the tax case.
Black also stated Francis was innocent of the charges.
"Even though [the girls] claimed that they were 18, signed papers saying that and said on video they were 18, because it was a strict liability offense, all of that, the court said, makes no difference," Black explained to E! News.
There was no immediate comment from prosecutors.
But shortly after tasting sweet freedom, Francis got down to slamming the Sunshine State.
"I cannot believe that I've been in jail and this was illegal," he said. "[Panama City] is a corrupt town, run by corrupt officials. This is just a whole crock...a sham with trumped-up charges.
"I am in a town of about 7,000 inbreds who are totally corrupt."
Black even lodged a prosecutorial misconduct motion against the chief prosecutor for a "pattern of blatant abuse" in his efforts to nail the infomercial kingpin.
As part of the plea agreement, Black withdrew that petition, and the state returned Francis' brand-new Ferrari and $60,000 in cash that had been confiscated.
But that didn't stop Francis from calling out Bay County officials anyway.
As for the tax case, the Girls guru said federal prosecutors offered him time served in exchange for a guilty plea, something he's not quite willing to do yet.
If convicted, he could face 10 years in prison, but Francis said he's optimistic those charges would be resolved very soon.
His publicist, Ronn Torossian, said the jiggle-happy entrepreneur planned to return to his home in Los Angeles later tonight.
"He's looking forward to watching Girls Gone Wild movies and is excited about the launch of the magazine," the rep said. "We're going to be doing some things tonight in L.A. with family and friends."
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