Judge Shows No Five-Day Mercy for Joe Francis
A Florida judge whom Joe Francis called "out of his mind" and "a judge gone wild" may have bought the "Girls Gone Wild" pimpresario an extra year in federal jail by refusing to cut his 35-day sentence by just five days.
Yesterday, Francis' lawyer begged District Court Judge Richard Smoak to cut his 35-day sentence on federal contempt of court charges to 30. As the lawyer explained, having jail time of over 30 days on his record would change the sentencing guidelines in his federal case should he be convicted on tax evasion charges -- and could tack on up to a year of extra time in a federal penitentiary as a result. Judge Smoak disagreed, and left the sentence at 35 days.
Of course, one year, in the grand scheme of things, might not really matter for Francis, who, TMZ has learned, faces up to 100 years in Florida prison if convicted on all the felony charges he faces in that state. Those charges include use of a underage child in sexual performance and bringing contraband cash and drugs into his most recent home -- a county jail cell. Marshals were directed today by another judge to take custody of Francis the moment he's released from his current sentence on May 15 at 8:15 am.
Looks like Francis could get very used to that cell, even if it's driving him insane.
