These celebrities know very well what it is like to be behind the bars!
There are quite a few stars who ended up behind bars due to drug or alcohol abuse, and some also due to more serious crimes. There are those who have just been arrested, but also those who have spent part of their lives in prison.
Whatever crime they committed, almost all the celebrities on this list were released after facing the law and, thankfully, they repented. They tried to become better people and many admit that they succeeded thanks to the time spent behind bars.
'Melrose Place' star Amy Locane has served three years in prison for a fatal 2010 car accident she caused under the influence of alcohol. The appellate court ruled that her first sentence was too lenient, so she ended up in prison again in October last year, but this time it was much easier to serve her sentence because she knew what awaited her.
‘I definitely know what’s going on there. When I walked in last time, I had no idea. I didn’t really know how things work and how you can ask certain officers for certain things. The first time I went to prison prepared me for this second time, but at the moment I am very afraid that the children will forget me. I will not be home until my older daughter (14) turns 18 and the younger one 16 years old. I can't even think about it, ' Locane told EW.
Felicity Huffman ended up behind bars for taking part in a college admissions scandal, with charges of paying $ 15,000 for her daughter’s performance repair service.
‘In a desperate attempt to be a good mother, I convinced myself that all I was doing was giving an honest opportunity to my daughter. Now I see the irony in that because what I did is opposed to being honest. I broke the law, cheated the educational community, and betrayed my daughter and family, ' Felicity wrote in a letter to the court, in which she pleaded guilty, for which she received a prison sentence of two weeks. She served a total of 11 days prior to the start of the one-year supervision, with conditions that include 250 hours of community service.
As early as 2008, Khloe Kardashian was arrested for drunk driving and ordered to attend alcoholism education. By missing the course, she violated her parole and was sentenced to 30 days in prison. Her experience with the law was documented in the reality show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’, and she eventually spent only three hours in custody and was released due to prison overcrowding.
Paris Hilton was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2006, and a few months later was sentenced to three years probation and alcohol education. That same year, she violated her suspended sentence and was sentenced to 45 days in prison.
After only four days behind bars, her lawyer managed to get her to spend the next 40 days under house arrest due to her health condition. However, she was summoned to court the next day and it was decided that she had to go to prison, and after returning behind bars she served half of her sentence. She was released due to good behavior and overcrowding.
Justin Bieber was arrested in Miami for drag racing and driving under the influence of opiates. He admitted to the police that he smoked marijuana and was taking prescription drugs. He was charged with driving under the influence of opiates, resisting arrest, and driving without a valid driver's license, which earned him 24 hours in prison.
As part of a plea agreement, Bieber pleaded guilty to reckless driving and resisting arrest. He donated $ 50,000 to a youth charity and committed to 12 hours of anger management counseling as well as participation in a program that teaches about the impact of drunk driving on victims. The charge of driving under the influence of opiates was dropped.
Back in 1996, Robert Downey Jr. was stopped for speeding and eventually charged with driving under the influence of opiates and having heroin, cocaine, crack, and a gun in his car. He was in prison and on probation, but after violating parole he was sentenced to six months in prison.
He then missed a court-ordered drug test in 1999 and was sentenced to three years in a California drug treatment facility and state prison. After a year in prison, the judge decided that given the total time spent in prisons, he was ready for early release.
Sir Paul McCartney spent nine days in a Japanese prison after marijuana was found in his luggage. In order to obtain a visa to travel to Japan, he had to sign a statement confirming that he had not taken drugs, and the penalty for such a crime could be up to seven years.
‘I'm still foggy about how it all happened, but it happened. I got away with it because of my fame ', Paul admitted as a guest on the show' Carpool Karaoke '.
Before getting the lead role in the film ‘Myself a Master’, Tim Allen was arrested at Minnesota airport for possession of cocaine. He was charged with drug trafficking, pleaded guilty, and spent more than two years in prison. He could face a longer stay behind bars but reportedly reduced the sentence by revealing the names of other traders.
'It was a turning point. I put myself in a position of great humility, but I managed to redeem myself with friends and family and redirect my life to setting and achieving goals, 'Allen told Closer Weekly.
Kiefer Sutherland was arrested for drunk driving in 2004 and given a suspended sentence. He was then caught drunk again in 2007. He declared in court that he does not oppose the agreement with the prosecutors to send him behind bars for 48 days, just so that it does not interfere with the filming of the series '24'. He was also sentenced to five years probation and had to complete an 18-month alcohol education program and go to therapy once a week for six months.
‘He never caused us any problems, he never complained about anything,’ said John Balian, a police officer at the Sutherland prison.
Nicole Richie was caught drunk driving in 2003, and three years later she was arrested again for drunk driving, after being spotted driving in the wrong direction on a highway in LA. She pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to four days in prison, three years probation, an alcohol education program, and a $ 2,048 fine.
She was five months pregnant at the time and had served only 82 minutes of her sentence, thanks to a policy that allowed the release of nonviolent offenders sentenced to 30 days or less within 12 hours.
Lindsay Lohan has become quite domesticated in prisons. Over the years, she was arrested for theft, driving under the influence of opiates, and drug possession. She was first imprisoned in 2007, the day after she pleaded guilty to two counts - that she was under the influence of certain substances and a statement that she did not oppose the charge of reckless driving and driving under the influence of opiates.
She also served her sentence in 2011, after being sentenced to 30 days in prison for violating a suspended sentence in two cases - driving under the influence of opiates and stealing a necklace.
A family Christmas vacation for Charlie Sheen in 2009 ended with him behind bars in Aspen, and he was arrested after an argument with then-wife Brooke Mueller. He is accused of second-degree assault and threats, just enough to spend the rest of his vacation behind bars.
Charlie later pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was allowed to serve a 30-day prison sentence at a rehab center in California, and was to serve three months probation and do 36 hours of assessment and treatment related to domestic violence.
Mark Wahlberg was arrested at just 16 for attacking two Vietnamese-American men during a robbery attempt, knocking one unconscious and hitting the other. Because of the altercation, which allegedly involved racial swearing, Mark was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to 45 days in prison for assault.
‘I want people to remember my past so I can be an example to them that life can be turned upside down,’ Mark wrote in a pardon request.
Alcoholic Nicolas Cage was arrested in 2011 after being spotted arguing with his wife Alice in New Orleans in the early hours of the morning. After allegedly mocking police officers, he was arrested and charged with domestic abuse and harassment by police. He was released the same day and the charges were dropped.
Mel Gibson was arrested in Malibu in 2006 on suspicion of driving under the influence of opiates. Before he was detained, his anti-Semitic remarks were recorded, which greatly affected his career. He apologized for the remarks, and for driving under the influence of opiates he eventually did not face jail time.
'It was an unfortunate incident. I was overwhelmed, angry, and arrested. I was illegally filmed by an unscrupulous police officer who was never prosecuted for that crime. And then they announced it, for profit. So that's not fair. I guess that because of who I am I should never have a nervous breakdown, ' Gibson told Variety 10 years after the incident.
The star of the 'Fast and Furious' franchise, Michelle Rodriguez, spent 48 hours in prison in 2004 because she did not deny in her statement that she was driving drunk and with her driver's license revoked. She was also sentenced to community service, a three-month alcoholism program, and a three-year suspended sentence.
The following year, she was sentenced to 60 days in prison for violating a suspended sentence but served only a few hours for overcrowding of the prison. That same year, she spent another five days in jail after being caught drunk driving in Hawaii. She then again violated her suspended sentence in 2007 and was sentenced to 180 days in prison, but was released after 18 days, again due to overcrowding.
By: Olivia J. - Gossip Whispers
