RENO, Nev. (AP) - A former Nevada sheriff's deputy facing a federal bribery charge says she never gave special treatment to the jailed creator of the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire in exchange for nearly $10,000 in gifts from a Hollywood associate of Joe Francis.
Ex-Washoe County Jail Sgt. Michon Mills took the witness stand for the first time in U.S. District Court in Reno Thursday to defend her oversight of Francis while he was jailed in Reno on federal tax charges for nearly a year ending March 2008.
Mills says she returned the $4,500 Cartier watch and a $5,000 Saks Fifth Avenue gift card to Aaron Weinstein, the associate who has pleaded guilty to a related charge.
She says she made mistakes, but never considered the gifts bribes and never did anything criminal.