Joe Francis finished a court appearance in Panama City, Florida, and he gained his freedom after pleading no contest to child abuse and prostitution charges.

Francis left a Nevada jail after his lawyer gave the court a $1.5 million cashier’s check to cover Francis’ bail on the tax charges and assured the judge that Francis would meet all the other conditions required for his release. He then headed to Florida to face charges concerning his filming of underage girls.

After the Bay County state court hearing, Francis boldly insisted that he was actually 100 percent innocent.

"I have never committed any crime. I pleaded guilty just to get out of jail. A few corrupt individuals were able to keep an innocent man in jail for 11 months," he said, according to the Associated Press.

Joe Francis built his fortune selling videos that feature young women, usually drunk, who bare their breasts. In 2003, he was charged with filming two 17-year-old girls in Panama City, Florida. The video sells millions of copies a year.

The girls signed forms agreeing to be filmed and falsely claiming they were 18 years old. But Francis knew their real age, and that made him guilty.

Francis said his plans were to return to Los Angeles and to continue running his business in the same way.

"I'm not making any changes whatsoever, even in this case, our (filming) releases were perfect," he told Reuters.

He also said he would keep fighting the federal tax charges that have kept him in the Nevada jail for 11 months.