Joe Francis, the creator of the video series "Girls Gone Wild," has been sentenced to 270 days in jail as well as three years probation stemming from an incident in 2011 in which Francis choked and assaulted a woman at his Los Angeles home, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Francis was convicted in May of three counts of false imprisonment, one count of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and one count of assault by means likely to cause a great bodily harm. In addition to the jail time and probation Francis has been ordered to go through psychological counseling and attend an anger management course, according to CBS News.
After meeting three women at the Supper Club in Hollywood Francis grabbed one by the hand around closing time and took her to his limo, the other two followed. The women testified that they were under the impression that Francis was giving them a ride to their car. Instead the driver of the car and one of Francis' bodyguards produced phony badges and would not let the women out of the car, eventually taking them to Francis' mansion, according to the Los Angeles Times.
While at Francis' house he got into a fight with two of the women after he attempted to lead one of them away from the others. Authorities say that Francis then grabbed the woman by the throat and repeatedly forced her head into the tile floor. The women left in a cab and called the police, despite threats from Francis to not do so, while on the way back to their car, reports the Los Angeles Times.
"Mr. Francis is really a danger to the community," Deputy City Attorney Mitchell Fox told CBS News. "He's had his way with ability to force people to comply with his wishes, he's been violent with people."
The decision is being appealed by Francis who has maintained his innocence. As Francis left the courthouse he told TMZ that the sentence was "absurd."
"I'm confident the legal system will course-correct and I am 100 percent innocent," Francis said. "There's no way I ever forced anyone to get into this car."
