‘Gone Wild’ guilty of not tracking age of girls
 

Filmmakers fined $2.1 million by federal court for lax record keeping

WASHINGTON - The company that produces the “Girls Gone Wild” tapes of young women baring their breasts and acting in other sexual situations pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges and agreed to pay fines totaling $2.1 million.

Mantra Films Inc., based in Santa Monica, Calif., made the plea in U.S. District Court in Florida on charges of failing to maintain proof of age and identification for its young performers in sexually explicit films. It also failed to label its DVDs and videotapes properly as required by federal law.

A second company owned by Mantra’s founder, MRA Holdings LLC, entered into a deferred agreement on charges of improper labeling. Under that agreement with prosecutors, the charges would be dismissed after three years if MRA Holdings cooperates with future government prosecutions, admits wrongdoing and pays fines.

The two companies and their founder, Joseph Francis, will pay $2.1 million in fines and restitution, the Justice Department said.

Separate state charges in Florida alleging that two 17-year-old girls were videotaped by a “Girls Gone Wild” cameraman in sexual situations remain pending against Mantra and Francis.

“Today’s agreements ensure that Girls Gone Wild will comply with an important law designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors and puts other producers on notice that they must be in compliance as well,” said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher.

An attorney for Mantra, Aaron Dyer, said the company would clean up its record keeping.

The charges involved “serious record-keeping issues that occurred several years ago,” he said. “Mantra takes these issues very seriously and has done everything it can to make sure this never occurs again.”

According to court papers, Mantra Films admitted to violating record keeping and labeling laws while distributing the videos during all of 2002 and part of 2003.

Founded in 1997, Mantra released 83 different titles and sold 4.5 million videos and DVDs in 2002, according to Hoover’s Inc., a business data firm in Austin, Texas.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14803961/

He's in trouble if he was selling them for $0.50 each :D

Gotta admit I'm glad to see him get slammed for something, anything. He's an incomparable fuckwit.

I don't care if he's a fuckwit or not. If he was filming under age models or not caring if he was filming under age models then there's an issue.

I'm guessing he still has plenty of cash.

Should have been more of a fine.

He is an asshat.

Doubt it will put a big dent in their cash flow.

ronnie

Let's not forget 'usually intoxicated underage models'
In which case a release (and consent) is questionable

I'm not suprised. I never liked the camera crew because I had a bad experience with one of them. We were out in springbreak and one of the guys kept pushing my friend to 'go wild'. I seriouslly didn't believe it was a "We just asked them" attitude. Getting very close to my friends and bugging them for a shot...no wonder most girls give in.

Pressure is pressure, whether it's for a used car, a time-share resort place, or a girl taking off her shirt. Unfortunately, when it involves intoxicated underaged girls, the results are extended damage or various kinds. I've seen girls get swepped up in peer pressure to take off their tops before. Granted, they were much older than 17, but still. I would venture a guess that younger girls, less habituated with drinking, and still in a high school dreamland of social rules and fitting in, are much more susceptible to direct pressure. In any case, good thing they got fined.