WASHINGTON, DC — Chances are good that 33-year-old softcore video entrepreneur Joe Francis isn’t wild about the federal government’s first assessment of 2257 related fines, primarily because the almost ridiculously popular series has been the target of them — to the tune of $2.1 million plus restitution.Mantra Films Inc., which calls Santa Monica, CA home, pled guilty of record keeping violations on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Florida, where it had been accused of failing to maintain proper proof of age and identification for the many, many young women who have bared their all, much to the delight of the company’s bottom line.
According to the court, the company had also failed to properly label its videos as is mandated by federal law which requires the name of the custodian of records and their location.
If Francis’ MRA Holdings LLC keeps its labeling nose clean for three years, cooperates with future prosecutions, pays its fines, and admits it was wrong, the charges against it will be dismissed.
Francis has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine to settle Los Angeles charges that he neglected to keep proper age and model identification records and, as a result, included underage girls in footage featured in at least two of his videos, which are readily available to consumers through late-night ads for DVDs with titles including Girls Gone Wild on Campus Uncensored and Ultimate Spring Break on cable television. The balance of $1.6 million relates to similar issues stemming from a Florida case which resulted in his conviction of 10 counts of breaking federal record-keeping and labeling laws regarding sexually explicit material.
Legal statements filed on Tuesday admit that the companies filmed, produced, and distributed sexually explicit materials during 2002 and part of 2003 that did not meet federal record-keeping and labeling laws.
The expensive decision came as only the latest in a series of scandals and scrutiny surrounding Francis and Mantra Films. MRA must now hire an outside company to oversee its record keeping and production facilities as part of the deferred prosecution agreement it reached with the government. Had Francis not reached such an agreement with the Justice Department, his punishment could have been far more severe.
“We regret that this occurred and will make sure that no other minors are used in Girls Gone Wild films,” Francis, who still faces 43 counts, including racketeering, prostitution, encouraging minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct, promised in his court statement.
Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher took the opportunity to warn other adult content producers of what awaits them if they are found in violation of 2257 regulations. “This case sends an important message about the Justice Department’s commitment to protecting children from all forms of sexual exploitation,” she warned. “Today’s agreements ensure that Girls Gone Wild will comply with an important law designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors and puts other producers on notice that they must be in compliance, as well.”
