'Dog' Offers Help to 'GGW' Founder

Oct 24, 12:43 PM

Current Headlines: By David Angier, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Oct. 24--Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, has offered to be personally responsible for "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis if Circuit Judge Dedee Costello lets him out of jail.

"I make this offer to the judge who is keeping Joe Francis behind bars," Chapman said in a news release Monday. "I will co-sign Joe's bond, and if he violates his bail in any way; if he fools me or proves me wrong, I will personally track him down to the ends of the Earth at no charge, and bring him back before the judge."

Chapman said he issued his statement after seeing a recent interview between Francis and Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. Francis has been in jail since April, first serving a 35-day contempt of federal court sentence in the Bay County Jail, then awaiting trial in Nevada on federal tax fraud charges.

"I have captured over 6,500 bail jumpers and criminals," Chapman said. "In my years, I have seen bail granted to thousands of people charged with far worse crimes than Francis. It's a travesty that this man sits behind bars without having the opportunity to post bond. His rights are being violated."

A federal judge granted Francis a $1.5 million bond in Nevada, but Costello has a detainer that would return him to the Bay County Jail if he leaves custody in Reno.

Francis posted bond in Bay County shortly after his arrest in 2003 on various charges stemming from filming his company did during Spring Break in Panama City Beach. Most of those charges have been dismissed and Francis currently faces counts of using and

conspiring to use minors in a sexual performance.

Two days after U.S. District Court Judge Richard Smoak of Panama City ordered Francis to jail in April, jail officials said they found prescription drugs in Francis' jail cell after he reportedly tried to bribe a guard. He has been charged with smuggling contraband into the jail, a third-degree felony.

Costello revoked Francis' 2003 bond after the new charges were filed because she found Francis had violated the terms of his pretrial release with the new offenses. Francis' lawyers appealed her ruling to a higher court, but it was upheld.

When The News Herald contacted Costello, she said she had no comment about Chapman's offer.

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