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Francis Claims Retribution
'Girls Gone Wild' founder, Joe Francis, claims a new lawsuit against him is the work of a federal judge who is targeting him for retribution. Francis accused the federal judge of targeting him for retribution, saying he is behind a new lawsuit that ac
cuses Francis of filming underage girls in sexually provocative acts. Francis said U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak and Smoak's former law partner, Ross McCloy, are targeting him because his company met with a consulting firm about taking steps to impeach Smoak and have him removed from office. McCloy is representing the four women who are currently suing Francis. They allege they were 17, 16, 15 and 13 when his company solicited them to participate in sexually provocative videos in 2003 and earlier. They want unspecified monetary damages. Smoak presided over an earlier, similar lawsuit against Francis that McCloy also filed. Francis said the judge should have removed himself because of his relationship with McCloy. The lawsuit was later settled after Smoak jailed Francis for making threats during a deposition."We asked three times for the judge to recuse himself in front of his ex-law partner and he refused," Francis said. "This is America and we are not going to let that happen again. We are not going to let them put me in jail for a civil suit."He called the latest lawsuit "Shakedown Part 2."
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