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Article: Judge: Francis Nevada bound.
- Article from:
- News Herald (Panama City, FL)
- Article date:
- May 16, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The News Herald. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: David Angier
May 16--PANAMA CITY -- State officials on Tuesday tried to get federal authorities to release "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis into their custody, but he was cleared for transport to Nevada.
State prosecutors and Circuit Judge Dedee Costello offered to take Francis to trial no later than July on a case that has been hanging around since 2003. That was conditional on federal authorities relinquishing custody of Francis to allow for his prosecution.
U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak, however, denied a writ from the State Attorney's Office that would have given the state custody of Francis. Prosecutor Bill Lewis filed the ...