Joe Francis sentenced in 2011 assault case

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Nancy L. Newman sentenced Francis to 270 days in jail and three years probation. He was also ordered to complete anger management and psychological counseling.

The 40-year-old was convicted in May on misdemeanor counts including false imprisonment, assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime.

All of the charges are misdemeanors and stem from a dispute with three women in 2011. According to Deputy City Attorney Mitch Fox, the women met Francis in January 2011 at a college graduation party at a club in Hollywood.

Francis took one woman into his limousine and the other two followed, thinking they were being taken to their car. Instead, Francis took the women to his home, where he got into a fight with one of the women. Fox said Francis grabbed that woman by the throat and hair and slammed her head onto the floor four times.

Fox also said Francis threatened the women not to call police, but the women dialed 911 immediately after leaving Francis' home.

After his conviction, Francis made headlines when he told The Hollywood Reporter the jurors who convicted him were "mentally (expletive) retarded" and "should be euthanized."

In 2012, a Los Angeles civil court jury ordered Francis to pay $40 million to casino mogul Steve Wynn. Wynn sued Francis for defamation, saying Francis claimed the Las Vegas hotelier wanted him killed and buried in the desert over a $2 million gambling debt.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.