Sitcom Stars Who Went To Prison

Television is a source of comfort for many. Sitcoms in particular — in which mild, low-stakes problems are all wrapped up in under 30 minutes and sealed with a lesson and a hug — are like a warm electronic blanket for viewers. Particularly as episodes get rerun by local stations or vigorously streamed by fans for years on end. The characters become like family members, and the actors who play them become familiar presences with friendly faces.

But those actors are not their characters, of course. They're real people, and real people rarely conduct themselves in the (usually) near-perfect and squeaky-clean way that sitcom characters live out their lives. Even big-time TV stars make mistakes or choices that land them in trouble with the law. Some even commit crimes so serious that they're locked up for a substantial period of time, counting themselves among the inmate population and giving up their freedoms to follow weird prison rules you never knew existed. Here are some of the most prominent sitcom stars who did — or are doing — hard time in prison.

Joining the cast of in "Full House" in 1988 a year after it hit airwaves, Lori Loughlin wound up staying on permanently as Becky Donaldson, the love interest and eventual wife of main character "Uncle" Jesse Katsopolis. She remained on the family sitcom until its cancelation in 1995 and reprised the part on the 2010s Netflix reboot "Fuller House." But Loughlin was dropped from the sequel series following the revelation that she was involved in a large criminal operation.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice made arrests in a long-simmering sting called "Operation Varsity Blues." Fifty wealthy people and celebrities allegedly paid heavy sums to fixers — essentially bribes — to ensure that their children were successfully admitted to high-end, selective universities, including Stanford, Yale, and the University of Southern California. Among the most famous names on the arrest logs was Loughlin. Along with her husband, she reportedly provided $500,000 to operatives to make sure their daughters got admitted to USC by faking evidence to make it seem they were crew team recruits, a sport they didn't participate in. In 2020, Loughlin entered a guilty plea for one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and was convicted and sentenced to two months in prison. She served her time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California.

Already a beloved small-screen performer for "I Spy," "The Bill Cosby Show," and "Fat Albert," Bill Cosby became the biggest TV star in America in the 1980s with "The Cosby Show." The family sitcom was the most-watched show by its 2nd season, garnering a massive 33.7 million weekly viewers. But the man warmly nicknamed "America's Dad" allegedly engaged in some abominable off-screen behavior for decades.

A total of 60 women accused Cosby of various acts of sexual assault from the 1960s until the mid-2000s. He didn't deny many of the encounters and said that what happened between him and his accusers had all been consensual. Statute of limitations laws precluded Cosby being tried for most of those cases, and only Andrea Constand's accusations were prosecuted. A faculty member of Temple University at the time of the alleged crimes, she said that Cosby invited her to his home in 2004, where he drugged and then sexually assaulted her. 

The 2018 trial ended in a conviction, with the actor found guilty on three charges of aggravated indecent assault. Bill Cosby's prison life was ultimately temporary, though. Set to serve as many as 10 years, he spent three years at a prison in Pennsylvania before he was released in 2021. The state's Supreme Court vacated the conviction because it believed that Cosby hadn't received a fair trial.

Tim Allen starred in one of the biggest hit sitcoms of the 1990s, "Home Improvement." The comedy followed an incompetent father, husband, and DIY show host. It's very strong opinions on masculinity were based on Allen's stand-up comedy routines about modern men and how they aren't so different from their cavemen ancestors.

But before Allen's '90s TV career and '80s stand-up dominance, he made his money by trafficking drugs. In 1978, authorities arrested 23-year-old Allen at the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport in Michigan for possessing of over 650 grams (1.4 pounds) of cocaine. That large amount suggests the intent to distribute, and Allen faced a lengthy prison sentence of up to life in prison. Instead, he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and gave law enforcement the names of higher-ups in his drug trafficking organization. He entered a guilty plea and received a reduced sentence of three to seven years. After spending two years and four months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minnesota, Allen was released on parole in the summer of 1981.

Charles S. Dutton became one of the best-known stage actors of the 1980s for starring in the Broadway productions of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and "The Piano Lesson." In 1991, he moved to television to headline "Roc," a gritty Fox sitcom about a gruff Baltimore garbageman feuding with his family. The play-like show embraced its star's background and went fully theatrical in the middle of its run when it became the first sitcom in decades to be broadcast live. Dutton first became interested in theater in 1972, when a friend sent him a play script to read while he was in prison. He produced the work with fellow inmates, and after his parole in 1977, he studied at the Yale School of Drama .

In total, Dutton spent just about a decade in some type of prison, first in a juvenile correctional school and then at the Maryland State Penitentiary. The main charge on Dutton's record was for manslaughter — he'd gotten into a fight with a knife-wielding man and endured seven stab wounds. "I wrestled the knife from him and killed him," Dutton told the Los Angeles Times. That charge brought with it 18 months in prison, and though he was later released, he landed behind bars again for possession of a deadly weapon.

He's headlined a few short-lived sitcoms, including "Back to You," "Hank," and "Partners," but Kelsey Grammer is virtually synonymous with Dr. Frasier Crane. He holds the record for playing one character in primetime TV for the longest, counting the nine years he portrayed the stuffy, snooty psychiatrist on "Cheers" in the 1980s and '90s, and then the 13 combined years of "Frasier" iterations, responsible for some of the darkest episodes from '90s TV shows.

While starring on hit comedies that earned him 17 Emmy Award nominations (and five wins), Grammer experienced alcohol and substance abuse issues that led to substantial legal difficulties. In 1987, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He entered a no-contest plea and avoided prison by agreeing to participate in alcohol rehab. Grammer didn't report to the program, though, leading a California judge to issue a new arrest warrant in 1990. 

This time, Grammer was sentenced to 10 days of community service — picking up garbage on a highway — as well as 30 days in prison. On the same day, he went before a different court for a different case. For failing to complete court-ordered drug rehab after he was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, the actor received a sentence of 90 days of house arrest.

Running from 1978 to 1986 across two networks, "Diff'rent Strokes" was a massive hit that made stars out of the three young actors who made the show so successful. Dana Plato and Gary Coleman played a billionaire's biological daughter and his youngest adopted son, respectively. Then there was teen idol Todd Bridges, who portrayed Willis Jackson, a kid from Harlem adjusting to his new life on tony Park Avenue.

After "Diff'rent Strokes" concluded its eight-year run, Bridges had a hard time finding work and felt increasingly despondent over personal and professional issues. At the age 15 or 16, while "Diff'rent Strokes" was still in production, he began using drugs. "I was trying to cover up the pain and suffering from what I saw in my family," he said on "Katie," referring to witnessing domestic abuse and being sexually assaulted. In 1989, following a six-week period of daily heavy cocaine use, Bridges was arrested and tried for shooting a known drug dealer eight times. A jury ultimately acquitted him of attempted murder, which carried a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Instead, he spent about nine months incarcerated while awaiting his trial.

Danny Masterson was the most accomplished actor among the young cast of "That '70s Show," having appeared in '90s sitcoms like "Roseanne" and "Cybill" before he took on the role of sarcastic rebel Stephen Hyde on the nostalgic Fox hit. After breakout stars Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher left — a TV casting decision that drove fans crazy — Masterson stayed on "That '70s Show" for its entire eight-season run, becoming the de facto lead actor of the series. He and Kutcher would later reunite on the Netflix sitcom "The Ranch," a job Masterson lost in 2017 following a Los Angeles Police Department investigation into horrifying allegations that multiple women brought against the actor.

In 2020, Los Angeles police arrested Masterson and booked him on three counts of rape. All reportedly occurred at his home in the Hollywood Hills — one crime in 2001, and the others in 2003. Masterson was released after a $3.3 million bail payment, and the first time he was prosecuted, the proceedings ended in a mistrial. In a new hearing in May 2023, a jury found the actor guilty of two rape charges but couldn't reach a verdict agreement on the third count. Later that year, the presiding judge sentenced Masterson to a term of 30 years to life. As of 2024, the actor is incarcerated at the California Men's Colony prison in San Luis Obispo, California.

Tommy Chong joined the sitcom "That '70s Show" in 1999, adding a real-life Seventies icon from the period to the cast. Chong played Leo, an old hippie who has smoked so much marijuana that he's wildly forgetful and perpetually spaced out. In other words, he was portraying the Chong persona perfected on so many of comedy duo Cheech and Chong's albums and movies a generation earlier.

In real life, Chong was an icon to the marijuana-consuming subculture, and he capitalized on that by forming Nice Dreams Enterprises, which sold glass pipes and other items implicitly designed to use for the illegal smoking of marijuana. That was the accusation levied by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, which arrested more than 50 people in a 2003 sting called "Operation Pipe Dreams." After a year of investigation, Chong was arrested and entered a guilty plea. Convicted on the drug charges, he was sentenced to nine months in federal prison, and he served the whole thing, which the comedian says wasn't too bad. "There's no punishment in the federal prison," Chong said on the "It Happened In Hollywood" podcast. "You get a computer. You get a nice comfortable cubicle. You're in there with nice, intelligent people."

In the 2010s and while still a teenager, Chris Tavarez figured in two of the most popular sitcoms airing on cable TV at the time. He recurred as Christopher on Tyler Perry's TBS show "Meet the Browns," and then joined the cast of "K.C. Undercover" as Darien, the love interest for a teenage spy played by Zendaya.

In 2019, Tavarez was arrested by police in the Los Angeles area following a heated argument with his domestic partner that escalated into physical violence. The actor aggressively pushed the woman, identified as his girlfriend, with such force that she struck her head and was diagnosed at a hospital with a concussion. Booked on a felony charge of domestic violence, Tavarez was initially free after posting $100,000 bail. But in February 2020 he was convicted and sentenced to alcohol rehabilitation, a year of domestic violence awareness courses, and five years of probation to be served following a 300-day prison sentence.

Stoney Westmoreland began popping up on sitcoms for brief guest appearances starting in the 1990s. Notable gigs include "NewsRadio," "Weeds," "Gilmore Girls," until he landed his best-known and longest-lasting role — Ham Mack, empathetic grandfather to the title character on Disney Channel's coming-of-age comedy "Andi Mack."

Westmoreland's involvement on that show and all other TV projects ended in 2018. Disney fired the actor following his arrest in Salt Lake City, near where "Andi Mack" filmed. Salt Lake City Police successfully captured Westmoreland via a sting operation, taking him into custody while he was en route to what he believed to be a physical liaison with an individual he believed was 13 years old — but was actually an undercover law enforcement official. Released from prison in 2019, Westmoreland headed back behind bars for a few days in January 2020 because he violated his parole in two ways. He ignored a deadline to turn over his digital devices for inspection of criminal activity, and authorities weren't able to access a room in his house.

A one-hit wonder child star you probably didn't know died, Dustin Diamond's death at age 44 in February 2021 from an aggressive form of cancer tragically ended a period of turmoil and legal problems. Diamond's acting career consisted almost entirely of playing goofy nerd Samuel "Screech" Powers." For 12, Diamond starred as Screech on the TV series "Good Morning, Miss Bliss," "Saved by the Bell," "Saved by the Bell: The College Years," and "Saved by the Bell: The New Class."

In the 2000s, Diamond published the "Saved by the Bell" memoir-meets-exposé "Behind the Bell," for which he later issued an apology directed to his former co-stars. He also claimed his obnoxious villain behavior on "Celebrity Fit Club" had all been a pre-arranged ruse. On Christmas night 2014, Diamond got into a violent altercation at a bar in Port Washington, Wisconsin, stabbing a man with a folding knife-blade and then fleeing the scene of the crime with his fiancée. The victim recovered from a single wound to his right underarm. In June 2015, Diamond was found guilty of misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon. His sentence included 15 months probation and four months in prison. The actor was granted parole after three months served, but he returned to prison briefly in May 2016 for violating the terms of his probation.

After landing her breakthrough role as TV producer Dana Whitaker on Aaron Sorkin's short-lived but acclaimed "Sports Night," Felicity Huffman became a 2000s TV superstar. She played overwhelmed, unfulfilled mother of four Lynette Scavo on ABC's campy, tongue-in-cheek, soap comedy "Desperate Housewives," featuring a cast who couldn't stand their co-stars. Huffman won the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series over two other cast members. The actor's career, which would include four more Emmy nominations and Oscar recognition for "Transamerica," was derailed after Huffman was implicated in a federal investigation.

The actor was among 50 individuals tied to "Operation Varsity Blues," which uncovered a program run by a man named William Singer that helped wealthy people cheat or bend rules to enable their children to get accepted into prestigious universities. Huffman confessed to making a payment of $15,000 to a college admissions test administrator to provide her extra time to finish and was planning on trying to outright fix another daughter's SAT exam answers. Entering a guilty plea to one count of to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, Huffman was convicted and a judge meted out a punishment that included a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service, and a two-week jail sentence. The actor completed her prison term at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, in late 2019.