He built his empire shooting girls going wild. But a rendezvous with three women at a college graduation party at the Supper Club in Hollywood got the 40-year-old creator and owner of Girls Gone Wild, Joe Francis into some real trouble this time. He thought he "owned the police" but that didn't help. His luck with the law ran out on Tuesday. Francis was sentenced to a jail term of 270 days, 3 years of probation, an anger management course and sessions of psychological counselling.

Francis was sentenced on charges of choking a woman and repeatedly slamming her head to the ground at his Los Angeles mansion in 2011. In May, a jury had convicted Francis of five charges of misdemeanour. It found his guilty on three counts of false imprisonment, one count of assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury, and one count of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime.

After the verdict, defence lawyer, Steve Levine, said that key details of the case were proven to be false in court. He said Francis will be appealing against the decision.

He will remain free pending the outcome of the appeal.

"Joe has always maintained his innocence," Levine told the media.

According to Deputy City Attorney Mitchell Fox, Francis met three women on January 29, 2011, at a college graduation party at the Supper Club in Hollywood. Grabbing one of the girls by her arm, he took her to his limo. The other two girls followed him, believing they'd be taken to their car. Instead, they ended up in a gated area of Francis' Bel Air home.

Though, Francis appeared to be interested in one of the women and tried to lead her away, but her friend pulled back, Fox said.

Francis then "jumped on the friend, took her to the ground, choked her, slammed her head against the ground, dragged her across the ground, and when she got back up, did it several more times", Fox was reported as saying.

He told the women that they were trespassing into his property and that they had to leave. When one of the women said they would call the police, he yelled at them, "go ahead and call the police", the prosecutor said.

Francis apparently told the girls he "owns the police" and that officers wouldn't arrest him, Fox added.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Nancy L. Newman, denied Francis' request for a new trial on Tuesday, but sentenced him to less than the four years in county jail urged by prosecutors.

His lawyer, Levine said, Francis would be released from custody soon after posting a $US250,000 bond on Tuesday.

A day after he was convicted in May, Francis had reportedly told The Hollywood Reporter that members of the jury were "retarded" and "they should all be lined up and shot."

Francis later apologised for his comments.

"This is one of those cases where, being a celebrity did not help him at all," Levine said.

Francis has had a number of past legal troubles. Dozens of other lawsuits have targeted Francis, who built a porn empire, Girls Gone Wild in 1997, producing and marketing videos of young women exposing themselves on camera. His camera crews typically engage young girls at parties who willingly expose their bodies or act "wild."