Man Sentenced in Mansion Robbery
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The man accused of robbing at gunpoint and extorting “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis at his Bel-Air mansion two years ago was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to the charges.
Darnell Riley, 28, had previously pleaded not guilty but accepted a plea bargain in which additional counts of burglary, kidnapping for ransom and carjacking were dismissed.
Riley forced Francis to say humiliating things on a videotape then threatened to put it on the Internet if Francis didn’t pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars, officials said. Riley also stole $1,500 in cash, a cellphone and an $8,000 Rolex watch.