WEST HOLLYWOOD—The 34-year-old Australian owner of “Girls Gone Wild” was sentenced on March 11 for a hit-and-run which resulted in a 21-year-old woman’s death last November.

Ryan Bowman pleaded guilty on March 2 before Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Elden Fox to being the driver of the Bentley that crashed into and killed Lauren Ann Freeman on November 10, 2010. She was crossing Sunset Boulevard at Hammond Street in West Hollywood when she was hit by Bowman’s car, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:50 p.m.

 

According to the press release, Bowman fled the scene and left his car in a residential near La Cienega Boulevard and Melrose Avenue, about one and a half miles from the fled scene, with the key still in the ignition and the doors unlocked. He admitted in court to hoping someone would steal the car.

 

However, the next day he turned himself in to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, accompanied by his lawyer, Blair Berk.

 

Bowman is the director of Zeal Entertainment, an Australian based company, which owns the rights to “Girls Gone Wild” for Australia.

 

Freeman was a recent graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles. She was leaving a concert with a friend at the Roxy Theater when she was struck by the Bentley that threw her 50 feet.

 

Bowman was originally charged with a felony hit and run, which would have required at least four years in prison if he had been convicted. However, his charges have been dropped to leaving the scene of the crime in exchange for his guilty plea.

 

He has been sentenced to 364 days in the Seal Beach Police Detention Center and four years of probation. After his jail time and probation have been served, he will be allowed to return to Australia. Additionally, Bowman has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in restitution to the Freeman’s family.