Torossian's Barely Legal Girl-on-Girl Action Apparently on Hold

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. I am guessing Robert Burns never imagined "laid" would be so imbued with meaning. Last February, 5WPR won the Girls Gone Wild (GGW) pornography account and had plans “to provide marketing communications support." Well, that is until today. The founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire was taken into custody by federal marshals early Tuesday and booked into the Bay County Jail. Francis is being held for a contempt of court citation after defying a federal judge.

Always a bummer when good clean fun is put on hold. Ronn Torossian, 5WPR's CEO described GGW as "an iconic brand which reaches 25,000 young consumers per week and has a unique position in today’s youth market."

From GGW's website: "Our young co-eds are on the loose and doing things they've never done before. We bring you the freshest faces and the hottest action you've ever seen." GGW Freepics include:

By day Jennifer and Wendy are a cop and a nurse. As if that wasn't hot enough, it still got hotter!

Christina and Alexandria met for the first time tonight at the club. Though the way they share... secrets, you'd think they were best friends! Watch these girls get down, way down!

Jenell and Ashley were partying in San Francisco this Spring when they found a whole new use for an electric razor! See what they did with it now!

But now, instead of helping to market this educational material to the "youth market," Torossian is otherwise occupied emailing "statements" to The Associated Press. What a drag.

He [Francis] "surrendered on his own 100 percent." And "His attorneys continue to work toward a settlement."

Francis drew the contempt citation during negotiations in a civil lawsuit brought by seven women who were underage when they were filmed by his company during spring break in 2003. On January 5, 2007, in Pensacola, Florida, Circuit Judge Dedee Costello paired down charges against Francis and his company, Mantra Films, Inc. to four felony and two misdemeanor counts after two 17-year-old girls claimed a "Girls Gone Wild" cameraman videotaped them in sexual situations on Panama City Beach. The remaining felony counts charge that Francis and the company used minors in sexual performances and conspired to use minors in sexual performances, which would carry a maximum combined prison sentence of 40 years if convicted. The two misdemeanor counts charge Francis and the company with prostitution.

We feel for Torossian. Judge Costello is such a party pooper who not only doesn't understand how much fun PR can be but also how important our work is.

UPDATE 4-11-07

Joe Francis was indicted today on federal tax evasion charges for illegally deducting more than $20 million in phony business expenses from his 2002 and 2003 corporate tax returns. According to a two count indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Reno, Nevada, Francis, sought to conceal income through the use of offshore companies and nominees. At one point, he transferred $15 million from one offshore bank account to a California brokerage account in the name of a Cayman Islands corporation he controlled. If convicted of the federal charges, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000.