'Girls Gone Wild' founder fined $500,000

The founder of "Girls Gone Wild" videos featuring young women who take off their tops was fined $500,000 on Monday for violating rules designed to prevent exploitation of minors.

Joe Francis, 33, also was ordered by a federal judge to perform 200 hours of community service and was placed on two years' probation as part of a plea agreement he reached with the Justice Department last September.

In pleading guilty to the two felony counts, Francis admitted he knowingly included footage of two females in his "Ultimate Spring Break" video series without having legible documentation of their ages, as required by law.

Prosecutors say the 2002 footage in question showed two under-age girls, both 17 years old, engaging in sexually explicit acts. Article here.