This chapter in ‘Girls Gone Wild’ founder Joe Francis’ life is now officially closed

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‘Girls Gone Wild’ founder Joe Francis is moving on, with no more jail time on tap, after his plea deal was approved Friday in U.S. District Court in L.A.

Those who may have thought of him as the world’s most famous prisoner-under-house-arrest will no doubt be raising table-service bottles of Cristal in his honor tonight.

‘I lost a year of my life, and I felt it was my responsibility to send a message to the government that they could not prevail in a prosecution where they completely ignore the fact,’ Francis said in a statement -- in which he then went on to remind us, in case we’d forgotten, that “worldwide demand for the Girls Gone Wild brand has grown tremendously in the past 12 years and we have a lot of work to do to accommodate that demand.”

If only Nelson Mandela had taken a principled stand on tax evasion related to profits from soft-porn production and distribution instead of sticking with that whole ‘principled stand against apartheid’ thing -- he probably could’ve gotten out of jail after only, what, 22 years, maybe 23?

-- Christie D’Zurilla