Joe Francis, who got out of jail only 10 months ago, may be going back for up to 10 years for tax evasion. He is accused of pocketing over $20 million in “business expenses” and has pleaded not guilty. He showed up five hours late to the hearing and when he finally arrived, the judge ordered him to be taken away.

When the adult-video entrepreneur finally appeared in court on Monday afternoon, he told the judge he was suffering from the flu.

Francis’ attorney Melissa Weinberger says U.S. marshals then handcuffed Francis and took him away.

Francis is accused of claiming more than $20 million in bogus business expenses on his corporate tax returns, including $3.8 million for a home in Mexico and $10.4 million in phony consulting services. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of federal tax evasion.

The hearing was to consider a request from his tax attorneys to recuse themselves from the case based on “strategic differences of opinion.”

[from CBS2]

For some reason, this reminds me of Al Capone finally getting busted due to tax fraud. Sure, Francis did serve time for contempt of court after filming underage girls taking off their shirts, but I think he should go back for being a complete tool. One of the most recent public things he has done is go to Washington DC with Larry Flynt to ask for a bailout for the adult film industry. And now he’s pissing off the judges again. You’d think that if he had already been jailed for 11 months due to contempt of court (he started screaming expletives during a mediation hearing), he would be careful not to anger the judges even further. But instead, he shows up hours late to his hearing. He just doesn’t seem to get that he’s not above the law.

Joe Francis is seen out at Sundance on 1/18/09. See ‘ya Joe! Credit: WENN