Joe Francis, the man behind the [insert your own adjective here] Girls Gone Wild videos, pleaded not guilty to felony tax evasion charges last week during a brief hearing in a Los Angeles federal court.
And befitting the Tinseltown setting, Francis was represented by an attorney involved in another celebrity tax case and who had his own sound-bite worthy assessment of the case.
"This ain’t Girls Gone Wild," attorney Robert Bernhoft told the Los Angeles Times,"it’s the IRS gone wild."
Bernhoft’s opinion of the federal tax agency just might be shaded by his recent work for another famous client still dealing with tax troubles, actor Wesley Snipes.
Francis is accused of deducting more than $20 million in
false business expenses on his California and Nevada companies’ 2002
and 2003 tax returns. You can read more about the original charges in this previous blog item.
For more on Francis’ most recent day in court, check out not only the LA Times story, but also E! Online and this Associated Press video report.
