A U.S. bankruptcy judge checked her authority for jailing "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis for bad behavior. Judge Sandra Klein asked the Central District of California to issue an arrest warrant for Francis.

The judge's report claimed GGW entities filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2013. In the year-and-a-half-long case, bankruptcy trustee R. Todd Neilson filed a complaint against Francis, claiming he made violent threats to employees and used them to perform personal services.

What later became a temporary restraining order also accused Francis of failing to return a company Cadillac Escalade and paying court-ordered sanctions.

In May 2013, an agreement was reached with Francis not to interfere with the GGW bankruptcy business with the judge's approval.

In April 2014, the company's assets were approved for sale for $1.825 million.

However, on May 9, Francis and his girlfriend entered the premises of the business' Wilshire Boulevard office, breaking the court-ordered agreement and "shouted profanities" at employees. The police were called, and while Francis became "verbally abusive," he did leave.

Francis entered the office again on May 16, where he unleashed on workers, allegedly bringing several employees to tears and again the police were called according to court papers.

Neilson quickly filed a contempt motion on Francis, stating he had repeatedly violated orders by entering GGW's offices and refusing to return the company cars he still possessed.

When the judge ordered a hearing, Francis argued that the vehicles were taken from him to repay a debt with a strip club while in Mexico. The judge ordered Francis to return the vehicles or pay $5,000 each day they remained missing and to pay $40,000 in outstanding attorney fees.

On July 28, Francis filed opposition papers claiming that the bankruptcy court didn't hold criminal content, only civil power.

"In light of the uncertainty regarding this Court's authority to issue an arrest warrant as a civil coercive sanction, the Court is left with no alternative but to refer this matter to the District Court for further proceedings," Judge Klein said.