PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — The president of Mantra Films Inc., which produces the “Girls Gone Wild” videos, has been released on bond after being charged with giving prohibited items to his jailed boss, authorities said.
Scott Barbour was released on $25,000 bond on Friday, a jail official said. He was arrested after allegedly supplying the jailed founder of the Girls Gone Wild video empire, Joe Francis, with pills and cash, Bay County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ruth Sasser said. Barbour was charged with introduction of contraband into a detention facility.
Barbour’s lawyer, Bob Pell of Panama City, told a judge setting his client’s bond Friday that Barbour has had “minor troubles” with the law in the past and had never failed to appear for a court appearance, The News Herald of Panama City reported. A message left after hours Friday for Barbour by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.
Francis, 34, makes millions a year through the “Girls Gone Wild” videos that show women exposing their breasts. He was charged Thursday with bribing a jail guard for a bottle of water and having prescription sleeping pills in his cell, authorities said.
Francis offered a jail guard $100 for a bottled water Wednesday evening, court records said. When the guard refused, Francis showed him $500, investigators said. Inmates are not allowed to have cash in the jail. Supervisors searched Francis’ cell and found 16 prescription pills, including the sleeping medication Lunesta and the anti-anxiety pill lorazepam, according to court records.
Francis, owner and CEO of Mantra Films, was put in jail during negotiations in a federal civil lawsuit brought by the seven underaged women filmed by his company in 2003.
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