Gambling debt leads to indictment of ‘Girls Gone Wild’ producer
A grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging "Girls Gone Wild" producer Joe Francis with theft and fraud over his failure to pay the Wynn Las Vegas a $2 million gambling debt.
The charges in the two-count indictment are essentially the same as those contained in a felony complaint the district attorney's office filed against Francis in Las Vegas Justice Court in September 2008.
The complaint was on hold while Francis and the Wynn engaged in heated civil litigation over the gambling debt in District Court and while Francis dealt with criminal tax problems in California.
The indictment allows the district attorney's office to dismiss the old complaint and move the case to District Court for trial. A Feb. 16 arraignment before District Judge Linda Bell was set for Francis, who is free on $132,500 bail.
The indictment alleges Francis intended to defraud the Wynn by signing a $2.5 million marker on a closed bank account during a gambling junket in February 2007.
Prosecutors said Francis paid back only $500,000 of the $2.5 million .
Reno lawyer David Houston, representing Francis, said the case is defensible.
Prosecutors opened the criminal case in 2008 at the request of the Wynn, which earlier had filed suit in District Court .
Francis, 37, who amassed a fortune producing videos of drunken college girls taking off their clothes, contended he owed the Strip resort considerably less than $2 million .
He counter-sued the Wynn, alleging chairman Steve Wynn used a variety of tactics to run up his gambling losses, including supplying him with prostitutes.
Wynn issued a statement calling the allegations "scurrilous beyond imagination" and filed a defamation lawsuit .
Nevada gaming agents could not substantiate the prostitution accusations.
In September 2009, District Judge Michelle Leavitt ruled in favor of the Wynn Las Vegas in the civil lawsuit and ordered Francis to pay the resort the $2 million plus interest. Francis appealed the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court, which has yet to issue a ruling.
Wynn's defamation lawsuit against Francis is set for trial on April 19.
