Joe Francis, founder and CEO of the Girls Gone Wild empire, filed a suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging that a federal judge worked with opposing attorneys to coerce him into signing a 2007 settlement agreement with the families of three underage girls who were illegally featured baring their breasts in an edition of GGW.

Joe says he was under disrest when he agreed to pay the families off and they should have received nothing. (This pig has more tricks up his sleeve than a magician.)

“Panama City officials began their persecution of Joe Francis with open deception, continued with perjury, and concluded with illegal imprisonment,” says Robert E. Barnes, legal counsel for Francis. “That may be what counts for justice in Panama City, but it’s not American justice.”

Joe “had no choice but to enter into the settlement in order to avoid further incarceration,” according to the legal papers. The adult-themed DVD extraordinaire insists he only agreed to settle the civil suit after U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak jailed him for contempt of court.

Joe is convinced Judge Smoak sided with former law partners to arrest Francis and force him to offer the girls a settlement. An attorney from a law firm where Smoak was once a partner represented the girls and their parents.

Joe has asked supporters on his Web site to write letters to Congress seeking Smoak’s impeachment.

Joe refused to reveal just how well the girls made out, but says the settlement has cost him “a fortune.”

The smut king wants the court system to vacate the settlement agreement and order the girls’ parents to return his payout.

Do you think Joe has a case?