Ex-deputy says she didn’t take bribes to help ‘Girls Gone Wild’ founder in Nevada jail

Ex-NV deputy denies taking bribes in Francis case

RENO, Nev. — A former sheriff’s deputy facing a federal bribery charge denied Thursday she gave any special treatment to the jailed creator of the “Girls Gone Wild” video empire in exchange for nearly $10,000 in gifts from one of his Hollywood associates.

Ex-Washoe County Jail Sgt. Michon Mills took the witness stand for the first time in U.S. District Court to defend her oversight of Joe Francis while the maker of the provocative videos of naked young women was jailed in Reno on federal tax charges from June 2007 to March 2008.

Mills said she returned the $4,500 Cartier watch and a $5,000 Saks Fifth Avenue gift card to Aaron Weinstein, the associate who has pleaded guilty to a related charge and testified this week in support of Mills’ claim she didn’t consider the gifts bribes.

“I wish I would have done a lot of things differently,” Mills testified before U.S. District Court Judge Larry Hicks.

“I made some commonsense errors, but in no way was I being criminal in nature,” said the 39-year-old Carson City woman who had dined with Weinstein and initially considered the gifts to be birthday and Christmas presents.

Mills said she didn’t originally acknowledge accepting the gifts because she didn’t want to get “lumped in” with two other deputies at the jail who were under investigation because they “had been doing things for Joe Francis.”

Those two former deputies have pleaded guilty to the same charge Mills faces — accepting a gratuity as a public official. One of them received $3,200 in cash and four Oakland Raiders tickets in exchange for smuggling in sushi, barbecued chicken and other food to the soft porn mogul.

Francis was sentenced in November to time served and one year of probation related to tax evasion counts and bribing jail workers.

Mills had been assigned to be the point of contact with Francis after he was placed in the mental health housing unit of the jail. Prosecutors said that while he was there, Francis was allowed to run his multimillion dollar pornography business.

Several deputies testified this week that Mills treated Francis better than other inmates. They said she brought him magazines, had direct telephone contact with his lawyers, visited him in his cell and insisted she be told every time he was disciplined.

Mills testified Thursday she had a meeting with her superiors about the way she was managing Francis, including providing her phone number to his lawyers so they could contact her with any questions or concerns.

She said Assistant Sheriff Lisa Haney “didn’t seem happy it was my personal cell phone” but that she was not reprimanded for her actions. She said after she was replaced as the liaison, another deputy took over the role and also provided a direct phone number to Francis’ lawyers that she said jail officials “called the Joe Francis hotline.”

The prosecution and defense rested their cases at midday Thursday. Hicks said he expected the 10-woman, two-man jury to begin deliberating after lawyers give their closing remarks Friday morning.

If convicted, Mills could face a maximum penalty of up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Ex-Washoe County deputy Ralph Hawkins was sentenced in December to three years probation and fined $4,000 for accepting the cash and tickets to Raiders games from Weinstein after U.S. prosecutors argued for leniency due to his cooperation in the case.

Weinstein is scheduled to be sentenced March 8 as part of a plea-bargain agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on a charge of providing contraband in prison.

Mary Boxx, of Sparks, who was an inmate specialist, also pleaded guilty in December to one count of accepting gratuities by a public official. Her sentencing is set for March 14.