Joe Francis Gets 9 Months for 2011 Assault

LOS ANGELES—He was looking at a possible five year sentence for the five misdemeanor convictions for a 2011 assault a Los Angeles jury found him guilty of in March, but Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis instead received a sentence today of 270 days in county jail, with three years’ probation to follow as well as a year of mandatory psychological counseling and anger management. It was a relative slap on the wrist for the notorious bad boy who seems to be (at least publicly) trying to create a new more mellow image—albeit with the occasional outburst of venomous rage about shooting juries dead—but Francis still appeared somewhat glum as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs shortly before 11 this morning. Bond is set at $250,000, however, so he was probably out in a New York minute. There was no word when he will begin his nine month sentence.   According to the Los Angeles Times, “The judge handed down the sentence after denying Francis' lawyer's motion for a new trial based on claims that one of the accusers lied during the trial and the three women went willingly to the home and were never falsely imprisoned. “The judge told Francis the women ‘were very credible’ and he deserved to be punished by some time in custody and needed anger management for his ‘temper.’ He was ordered held in lieu of $250,000,” the article added.