Celebrities Who Are Still In Prison

The following article includes mentions of domestic abuse, child abuse, and sexual assault.

Even famous people break the law. Many celebrities have gone to prison over the years, including comedian Tim Allen, domestic guru Martha Stewart, and actor Kiefer Sutherland. A good chunk of these stars committed minor offenses involving DUI charges or financial crimes. They typically serve rather short sentences and are often (but not always) able to pick up their lives where they left off. Society can be very forgiving when it comes to those who do their time and repent for their crimes. 

Then there are the celebrities whose criminal activities are on an entirely different level, necessitating several years in prison. They've committed crimes that are so bad, it's next to impossible for fans to forget what they did. The men and women in this list have been involved in sex crimes, trafficked huge amounts of drugs, and even committed murder. Some admit that they broke the law, while others continue to maintain their innocence. Either way, they're stuck behind bars for a very long time.

It's unclear what they will do when they're released from prison. Some may die while serving out their sentences, while others may disappear from public scrutiny. Regardless, their legacies are forever linked to their poor judgment.

Hip-hop star Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. was the CEO of Death Row Records, and in January 2015, he had an altercation with a man named Cle "Bone" Sloan, who worked on the biopic "Straight Outta Compton." The fight got so intense that Knight ended up grazing Sloan with his vehicle and running over a man named Terry Carter, who died from his injuries. Knight initially claimed his actions were in self-defense and that he was being chased by armed men.

Three years later, Knight entered a plea deal and was sentenced to 22 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter and six years for a third strike violation, which totaled 28 years behind bars. He has been serving time at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, California, since 2018 and isn't eligible for parole until 2037. Not long after he was sent to prison, Knight allegedly claimed that Dr. Dre was behind a plot to assassinate him. According to tabloid The Blast, Knight told the outlet it was a murder-for-hire scheme with a paper trail. He allegedly said he had  proof that Dre was involved in a plan that would "get rid of" him.

You probably remember a man named Jared Fogle from the Subway sandwich commercials. In 1998, when he was just 20 years old, he weighed over 400 pounds, so he decided to change his life by exercising and eating two sandwiches from Subway every day. According to the Los Angeles Times, he lost more than half of his body weight in less than one year. Eventually, he appeared in a Men's Health article and soon became a spokesman for Subway, appearing in his first commercial for the sandwich shop in 2000. He had parlayed his weight loss into an income-earning gig.

A few years later, things took a very dark turn. During a plea deal with authorities in 2015, he confessed to receiving child pornography and having sex with minors. He was involved in interstate travel to pay for sex and possessed 400 videos of illicit pornography. Even worse, many of the videos were sent to him by the head of his charity, according to prosecutors in the case against him. Fogle was sentenced to over 15 years in prison and won't be eligible for parole until he's served at least 13 years. Fogle was also reportedly ordered to pay restitution to 14 minors that he assaulted, to the tune of $1.4 million.

Michael Jace, who you may know for the television police drama "The Shield" and the made-for-TV movie "Michael Jordan: An American Hero," shot his wife in front of their two children in their Los Angeles home in 2014. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder. The motive for the killing appeared to be jealousy. His wife, April Jace, wanted a divorce, and the 53-year-old actor was convinced she was dating another man.

When April returned to their home on May 19, 2014, Michael shot her several times while their sons, ages 8 and 5, looked on. He called 911 and his father-in-law after the incident and admitted to the crime. Michael had a history of violent behavior: A friend of his first wife revealed in a sworn statement during a 2005 custody case that he had choked and hit his wife and slammed her against the wall.

Film mogul Harvey Weinstein is in prison based on the allegations of just one Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann, even though dozens of women (a whopping 87, according to USA Today) spoke out about the sexual abuse they experienced at his hands over the years. In 2018, Weinstein was arrested in New York and charged with rape, committing a criminal sex act, sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct. Investigators in California and London were also targeting the producer for sex crimes.

Before he went to trial, Weinstein posted $1 million bail and was ordered to wear an ankle monitor. He was later indicted on charges of rape in the first and third degrees, a first-degree criminal sexual act, and other felony sex charges. The entire time, Weinstein refuted the charges and indicated that the women were willing participants in his sexual conquests. At one point during the investigation, a spokeswoman told USA Today, "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein."

In 2020, the producer was found guilty of committing a criminal sexual act against Haley and rape in the third degree. He was found not guilty of predatory sexual assault and rape in the first degree against Mann. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison and is a registered sex offender.

New Orleans rapper C-Murder, born Corey Miller, was convicted of second-degree murder for killing a teen named Steve Thomas in a nightclub in 2002. He started serving a life sentence in Louisiana State Penitentiary in 2009. However, there's a twist in his case: Since his incarceration, two major eyewitnesses came forward to recant their testimony. Plus, an unlikely ally has come to his defense: reality star Kim Kardashian.

In April 2020, the Supreme Court determined that jury verdicts in trials involving serious crimes must agree unanimously. In Miller's case, he was convicted 10-2. Kardashian, who was studying to be an attorney, tweeted at the time, "Since his trial, witnesses have recanted, new evidence of his potential innocence has come to light, and there are claims of jurors being pressured into voting to convict."

One witness, Kenneth Jordan, revealed that he was pressured to lie about C-Murder because he feared being imprisoned himself on unrelated charges. The other witness, Darnell Jordan, also claimed he felt pressured to lie under oath. Meanwhile, the convicted rapper has claimed he's innocent of all charges. In 2023, however, a a federal judge upheld C-Murder's conviction, arguing the recanted testimony by Kenneth and Darnell Jordan wasn't reliable. 

Singer R. Kelly was arrested by the feds on July 11, 2019, in Chicago. He and a few associates allegedly recruited young girls for sexual encounters, isolated them from their families, and controlled them so they wouldn't seek help. An indictment was filed in a U.S. District Court in New York City, and Chicago prosecutors also issued an indictment claiming Kelly paid off witnesses and victims in a 2008 child pornography trial.

Trial dates in New York were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, while Kelly was in a Chicago federal jail awaiting trial, he was attacked by Latin King gang member Jeremiah Shane Farmer. Farmer beat the star up while he was in bed, and Kelly reportedly sustained a serious concussion during the incident. In June 2022, Kelly was given 30 years in prison following his sex trafficking conviction the year before. A few months later, in September, he was found guilty of producing child pornography, with his attorneys requesting the sentence be limited to 11 years.

In 2013, actress Shannon Guess Richardson, known for her role on "The Walking Dead," pleaded guilty to developing, producing, possessing, and transferring a toxin with the intent to use it as a weapon. She mailed threatening, poison-laced letters to then-President Barack Obama and two other people. Richardson bought supplies for the plot using a credit card and account under her husband's name, and she made the poison ricin using castor beans in the home she shared with her husband and four of her children. She was also pregnant while making the concoction.

She mailed the letters to Obama, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, and a man named Michael Glaze, who was employed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The FBI collected and examined all of the correspondence. Richardson wrote about gun control in the letters and tried to set up her husband for the crime by planting evidence in his car and lunchbox. Despite her attempt to frame him, she was arrested in 2013 and eventually given an 18-year sentence.

Richardson is serving time in a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, and could be released in 2029. She is not eligible for parole.

Nathaniel Glover, aka Kidd Creole, is a founding member of hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. In 2017, Glover, 61, was arrested and charged with murder in the second degree after stabbing a man named John Jolly in the chest. Glover and Jolly, a registered sex offender, had an altercation in midtown Manhattan.

During an interview in March 2021, Glover was eager to tell his side of the story. He has previously been labeled as homophobic but insisted he merely acted in self-defense and disputed reports that he had problems with the LGBTQ+ community. Glover claimed he was minding his own business when Jolly aggressively pursued him and appeared to have harmful intentions. Glover initially thought Jolly was trying to pick him up before the latter began to follow him.

"I'm suffering," he explained. "I'm locked in a room 24 hours a day, seven days a week, day in, day out, not knowing what my fate is going to be because my case is dragging on. It's very difficult for me right now." It wasn't until 2022 that Glover went to trial, where he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison. 

Todd and Julie Chrisley achieved widespread recognition for their reality show, "Chrisley Knows Best," which first debuted in 2014. The program follows the married couple and their children in the South as they go about their lives as a regular family — that just happens to be incredibly rich. So how did the Chrisley clan get so wealthy? Well, Todd is a highly successful entrepreneur and real estate developer who applies his uncompromising business ethics to governing his family, leading to no shortage of drama. Despite Todd's ever-watchful eye on the goings-on of his household, there's always someone getting into trouble or causing some turmoil. "Chrisley Knows Best" was popular enough to lead to various spinoffs, including "According to Chrisley," web series "What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley," and podcast "Chrisley Confessions."

Unfortunately, things got even more real for the reality TV family when Todd and Julie found themselves embroiled in a difficult legal problem. The couple were charged with tax evasion, conspiracy, bank fraud, and wire fraud, on August 12, 2019. This culminated on June 7, 2022, with the both of them being found guilty on all counts, though with separate sentences. Todd's 12-year sentence is being spent at FPC Pensacola, as Julie spends her sentence of seven years at FMC Lexington, Kentucky. In 2023, the couple's prison sentences were shortened, with Todd expected to be released in 2033 and Julie in 2028.

Joe Exotic entered the public consciousness with the release of the massively popular 2020 Netflix documentary series "Tiger King." It chronicled the bizarre world of big cat collectors, with an emphasis on the even more bizarre Exotic. In addition to running the G.W. Zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, he also dabbled in guns, cultivated a career in country music, and ran for political office. The docuseries shone a spotlight on the cast of eccentric characters that populated the world of big cat collecting and the madcap antics they got up to. However, the highlight of the show was Exotic's intensifying clashes with Carole Baskin, an animal rights activist, which culminated in his attempt to eliminate her — for good — by hiring a hitman for $3,000.

Of course, Exotic's murder-for-hire scheme didn't go unnoticed by the authorities, nor did his other unlawful actions. His other crimes included the killing of five tigers, selling baby lemurs despite filing them as donations, and other wildlife violations. In 2020, the United States Attorney's Office Western District of Oklahoma handed Exotic a 22-year prison sentence, in addition to three years of supervised release after he served his sentence. While he managed to reduce his sentence by one year, Exotic's 2022 appeal to decrease it by another 8.5 years was shot down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Josh Duggar's claim to fame is one of 10 sons (among 19 total children) of the Duggar family, the focus of the reality TV series "19 Kids and Counting." Because the family is so devoted to their Baptist faith, parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have been open about not using birth control, which is why they have so many offspring. While a big part of the show's fascination lies in seeing how the two parents deal with raising so many kids at once, it's the strict religious manner with which the family functions that has made "19 Kids and Counting" so interesting to watch. In the Duggar household, the children are only allowed to watch family-friendly TV shows, must wear modest clothing, and practice chaperoned courtship.

Unfortunately, those rigid religious beliefs didn't prevent the Duggar's oldest child, Josh Duggar, from engaging in various crimes. Josh first attracted controversy in 2015 when word spread of his supposed molestation of multiple young girls, among which were several of his sisters. His legal troubles got worse when he was charged with possession of child pornography, to which he pleaded not guilty. Josh was found guilty on the charges of receiving and possessing child pornography in 2021, resulting in a prison sentence lasting 12 years and seven months. Despite an appeal in 2023, Josh's sentence was upheld. 

Ryan Grantham was a young Canadian actor whose career held so much promise — until he threw it all away with a terrible mistake. Throughout his relatively brief acting stint, he appeared in almost 40 movies and TV shows. His acting debut was in the 2007 television movie "The Secret of the Nutcracker," which was followed by a role in the big-budget sci-fi action film, "Jumper," in 2008. Grantham was seen in a variety of other film and TV projects before showing up in some higher-profile movies as Little Anton in Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" and Rodney James in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." The rest of Grantham's career largely consisted of TV shows such as "iZombie," "Supernatural," and "Riverdale," his final acting credit.

However, Grantham's auspicious career in Hollywood came to a tragic end when, on March 31, 2020, he shot his mother in the back of the head. Long after his brutal crime, Grantham made a video confession and even planned to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He decided not to, ultimately turning himself over to the authorities the following day. Grantham was given a lifelong prison sentence with the possibility of parole after 14 years. His attorney, Chris Johnson, recently revealed to TMZ that the imprisoned actor "advised me that he's doing well, getting the help he needs, and has gained some insight into what happened and why. He regrets what he did to his mother."

Tory Lanez (whose real name is Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson) is a rapper who first garnered widespread attention with the release of his 2013 mixtape, "Conflicts of My Soul: The 416 Story." Three years later, after signing to Benny Blanco's record label Mad Love Records in a collaboration with Interscope Records, Lanez released his first full-length album, "I Told You." The album was a considerable success, largely due to its hit singles "Say It" and "Luv," the latter of which received a Grammy nomination for best R&B song. Lanez capitalized on his popularity in 2018 with two more albums, "Memories Don't Die" and "Love Me Now?" But the album that ranked highest on the Billboard 200 chart was 2019's "Chixtape 5," which came in at No. 2.

However, what started out as the beginnings of a long and successful career as a hip-hop and R&B artist was cut short in 2020. Lanez shot popular recording artist Megan Thee Stallion with an unregistered semiautomatic firearm, leaving her with minor injuries. He was found guilty of multiple charges and remained in jail until his sentencing in August 2023,where he received 10 years in prison. In March 2025, he released an album from prison called "Peterson."

As a child and young teenager, Danny Masterson popped up on TV shows like "Jake and the Fatman," "Roseanne," and "Cybill," and in the family film "Beethoven's 2nd." Eventually, he landed his signature and most famous role: Sarcastic teenage delinquent Steven Hyde for eight seasons of Fox's hit period comedy "That '70s Show." After the series ended in 2006, Masterson focused on his side career as a DJ and co-starred on the Netflix sitcom "The Ranch."

After three women filed criminal complaints, the Los Angeles Police opened an investigation into Masterson in 2017. According to the allegations, Masterson sexually assaulted three women in his Hollywood home between 2001 and 2003. In June 2020, Masterson was arrested, made bail, and stood trial on charges of forcible rape in December 2022, which ended without a verdict. The next trial in May 2023 ended in a conviction for Masterson on two rape charges, with a hung jury on the third count. Masterson was kept behind bars until his sentencing hearing in September 2023, where Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo sentenced the actor to 30 years to life in prison.

Joe Son appeared in several small roles in B-level action movies in the '90s, including "Shootfighter: Fighter to the Death" and "Bloodfist V: Human Target," before being cast in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. He played villainous henchman Random Task, a parody of James Bond movie minion Odd Job. All those roles came after his involvement in a serious crime, for which Son was convicted and sentenced well after he'd made a name for himself in Hollywood.

On Christmas Eve 1990, Son aided in the kidnapping, assault, torture, and group sexual assault of a woman. An unrelated incident in 2008 turned up DNA evidence that connected him with those crimes, which earned him a life sentence with no possibility of parole in 2011. Then, shortly after beginning serving his sentence, Son, a trained mixed martial arts combatant, kicked and punched his prison cellmate to death. Prosecutors asked a court for a second life sentence, but the jury found Son guilty on a lesser charge, voluntary manslaughter. For that murder, Son saw an additional 27 years added to his already unending sentence.

In the United Kingdom, British musician Gary Glitter (real name: Paul Gadd) was one of the biggest stars of the glam rock era. He racked up 15 top 40 hits in the '70s, including the No. 1 smashes "Always Yours," "I Love You Love Me Love," and "I'm the Leader of the Gang." In the United States, he's best known for the lyric-free 1972 song "Rock and Roll (Part 2)," "a Jock Jam" played at countless sporting events over the decades.

Gadd is also a repeatedly convicted sex offender. In 1999, he spent four months in prison in the U.K. after confessing to owning a collection of pornography depicting minors. Upon his release, he moved to Cambodia and was ordered to leave the country following allegations of criminal child abuse in 2002. He then settled in Vietnam, where in 2006, he was convicted of assaulting two girls and served more than two years in prison. 

Once back in the U.K., in 2008, Gadd was added to a sex offenders registry, and in 2015, he was convicted on crimes of a sexual nature involving children that dated to his 1970s rock star days. The musician reportedly assaulted two children backstage at a concert and attempted to assault a third child in her bed. Gadd was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Paroled in February 2023 after eight years in prison, authorities re-incarcerated Gadd a month later due to a violation of his release agreement. He was scheduled for a parole hearing in January 2024.

From 2011 to 2014, the Discovery Channel scored a reality TV hit with "Sons of Guns." Tracking the day-to-day activities of Red Jacket, a weapons store in Louisiana and the family who ran it, shop owner William Hayden was front and center for most of the series' episodes. Right around the time that "Sons of Guns" wrapped up its run in 2014, Hayden was arrested for multiple sexual assaults on a minor. The accuser testified that in 2013 and 2014, when she was 11 and 12, Hayden raped her several times in his truck and at his home. 

During the trial, another woman came forward and took the stand to recount Hayden's two sexual assaults in the early 1990s, when she was 12 and 13 years old. Hayden faced another charge when his daughter accused him of sexual assault. For all of those sex crimes committed against minors, Hayden was found guilty in 2017 of forcible and aggravated rape and was sentenced to two simultaneous life sentences and an additional 40 years. In another proceeding later in 2017, a judge handed down a third life sentence.

Defensive back Darren Sharper played in the NFL for 14 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. During that span, he led the league in interception return yards three times and interceptions twice, earning him five Pro Bowl selections, a spot on the NFL's all-2000s team, and a Super Bowl ring. Not long after he retired in 2010 and took a job as an analyst with the NFL Network, allegations about disturbing crimes he'd committed began to surface.

In February 2014, police in New Orleans arrested Sharper and another individual on charges of raping two women in New Orleans the previous year. At the time, the ex-football star was also the subject of investigation in similar sexual assault cases in Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and California. The probes revealed that Sharper had also reportedly drugged the women prior to the assaults. In August 2016, a U.S. District Court in New Orleans sentenced Sharper to an 18-year and four-month prison term, plus three years of supervised release upon his parole. Three months later, a court in Los Angeles issued Sharper a 20-year sentence to be served concurrently with the previous punishment.

Of the dozens of upwardly mobile and entrepreneurial-minded women who have appeared on one of Bravo's many "Real Housewives" reality series, Jen Shah of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" is among the most memorable. Why? Because her money-making endeavors landed her in prison.

In 2021, Shah and assistant Stuart Smith were indicted by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York on charges of money laundering and wire fraud. From 2012 to 2021, the pair ran telemarketing operations that sold income-generating products and services that didn't exist in order to purposely defraud elderly consumers. After initially entering a not-guilty plea on counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the second charge was dropped. Shah agreed to a plea deal in 2022 and admitted to the wire fraud charge. In January 2023, she received a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

In 2014, Elizabeth Holmes looked to be a revolutionary in both technology and medicine. After she founded Theranos, the 30-year-old Stanford University dropout was hailed as one of the youngest self-made billionaires in history and compared to innovators like Steve Jobs, a company built around a cutting-edge device called the Edison Test. Holmes claimed that with just a few drops of blood, it could accurately diagnose myriad medical conditions without the need for painful, invasive, expensive, and time-consuming tests. Investors clamored to put their money in Holmes and Theranos, which reached a $9 billion valuation.

By 2016, however, it was all exposed as too good to be true. The Edison Test didn't actually do what it purported to do. Theranos fizzled out, and Holmes was accused of, and then charged with, fraud. A jury ruled that she was well aware that her technology didn't work when she convinced investors to fund Theranos. Facing 11 counts at the federal court level, Theranos was found guilty in January 2022 on four charges. 

The jury decided Holmes was guilty of defrauding patients and conspiracy to defraud patients but couldn't decide on the counts regarding defrauding investors. In November 2022, Judge Edward Davila sentenced Holmes to 11 years and three months in prison, three years of supervised release post-parole, $400 in fines, and an order to pay restitution. In 2023, Holmes saw her sentence reduced to nine years, meaning she'll be a free person in 2032.

After Netflix launched "Cheer" in early 2020, the biggest star of the reality show about the elite cheerleading squad at Navarro College was Jerry Harris. Raised by a single parent who died just before Harris went to college, he exuded a can-do spirit and charisma that won him and the show high-profile and vocal fans like Reese Witherspoon and Ellen DeGeneres. For most of 2020, Harris was one of the most-liked reality TV stars in the U.S., and easily the most famous cheerleader in the world.

Then, in September 2020, teenage twins filed suit, alleging that Harris texted them messages of a sexual nature, demanded they send explicit photographs of themselves, and attempted to make one of the pair perform a sexual act on him during a 2019 cheerleading event. Harris faced arrest over the situation, and after he confessed to soliciting photos from more than 10 underage individuals on Snapchat and engaging in sexual activities with a teenager, among other crimes against minors, the FBI investigated him further. 

In December 2020, the federal agency charged Harris with sexual exploitation of children and criminal reception of child pornography. He entered a guilty plea in February 2022 on two charges — the assault at the cheerleading competition and offering payment to a 17-year-old in exchange for sexual materials. In July 2022, Harris was convicted and began serving a 12-year sentence in federal prison.

Goth-tinged alternative metal band Lostprophets came out of Wales in the early 2000s and scored some major rock radio hits in the U.K. and beyond. "Last Train Home" topped Billboard's alternative rock chart in the U.S., and follow-ups "Wake Up (Make a Move)" and "I Don't Know" became just as inescapable. Lostprophets was essentially the mouthpiece for founder, songwriter, and lead singer Ian Watkins.

In 2013, Watkins was sent to prison after he was convicted on 13 charges that the presiding Crown Court judge said "plunged into new depths of depravity," according to the BBC. All 13 crimes were sexual offenses committed against children. Among Watkins' convictions: Three counts of sexual assault, seven counts relating to the possession or creation of pornography, and conspiracy to rape a child, specifically an infant. 

Watkins' defense attorney unsuccessfully argued that their client shouldn't be held accountable because his prodigious drug use left him with no memory of committing the acts in question. Two women who provided Watkins access to the children he abused were tried too and sentenced to 14 and 17 years. Watkins, who the judge felt possessed a "complete lack of remorse" and was a danger to the community at large, received a 35-year sentence.

Skateboarding emerged as a viable professional spectator sport out of California in the 1980s. Mark "Gator" Rogowski was part of that scene, and thus highly important to the history of skateboarding. By the time he was 14, he was winning statewide skateboarding contests and would eventually earn upwards of $100,000 in annual winnings and endorsements. One of the first signature, celebrity-branded boards was the Gator, created by Vision.

By the early 1990s, Rogowski was consuming a lot of drugs and alcohol, which presaged his descent into criminal violence and murder. In 1991, after Rogowski split with his partner, he encountered an old friend of his ex-girlfriend named Jessica Bergsten. They spent a day together, and at the end of it, Rogowski used the anti-car theft device called The Club to brutally beat Bergsten. Afterward, he sexually assaulted her, placed her into a surfboard bag, and strangled her until she was dead. He buried the body in the California desert. 

For those crimes, Rogowski received a sentence of 31 years to life. Eligible for parole in 2011, he remained behind bars when the San Diego County district attorney denied his petition. Successful parole approvals in 2019 and 2022 were ultimately reversed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Austin Jones was among the first wave of celebrities who used YouTube to make themselves famous and get a mainstream entertainment career going. In 2007, while still a teenager, he made videos of himself singing well-known songs, both unadorned or with some acoustic guitar accompaniment. Branding himself an "emo-acapella" singer, Jones rolled out original material, released multiple albums, and toured, all while maintaining his status as a YouTube sensation who attracted more than half a million subscribers and millions of views.

As Jones was a youthful-looking teen idol type, many of the fans he attracted were female — teenaged and younger. Jones used his platform and fame to exploit them. In 2017, the singer was arrested after he reportedly used Facebook to encourage his followers, some as young as 14, to send him sexually explicit and nude images and videos. Jones agreed to a plea bargain, and in 2019, a Chicago judge sentenced the YouTube personality to 10 years in prison.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Roy Estrada contributed bass guitar to two of the most important and definitive bands of the era. From 1964 to 1975, he played off and on with the Mothers of Invention, the support musicians for experimental rock legend Frank Zappa. When he wasn't actively recording or touring with the Mothers, Estrada was busy with Little Feat, the swamp rock group he co-founded and with whom he recorded multiple well-regarded albums.

With his era of relevance long since passed, Estrada made headlines in the 2000s for his criminal behavior. After his release from a California prison for committing a lewd act with a minor, Estrada moved to Texas and repeatedly abused a female relative under the age of 14. Her family didn't know that Estrada was a convicted sex offender. For the newer series of crimes, Estrada reached a plea deal with prosecutors and in 2012 was sentenced by a court in Tarrant County, Texas, to serve 25 years in prison, with no possibility for parole.

When mixed martial arts exploded in popularity in the 2000s, War Machine, formerly Jon Koppenhaver, stood among the sport's most prominent fighters and biggest successes. In a career that spanned from 2004 to 2013, he amassed a record of five defeats against 14 victories, of which eight were knockouts or technical knockouts. War Machine participated in many major mixed martial arts circuits, including Xtreme Fighting Championships, Bellator MMA, and UFC. He was also a cast member of the UFC-branded reality TV series "The Ultimate Fighter."

Less than a year after his last fight, War Machine found himself at the center of an extremely ugly and violent incident. In 2014, he went to the Las Vegas home of his former romantic partner and kidnapped, assaulted, and sexually assaulted the woman. He also brutally attacked a friend of the victim present in the home at the time. War Machine was charged with 31 counts overall, and a Nevada jury found him guilty of everything but two counts of attempted murder. Sentenced to life in prison, War Machine will be up for parole in 2053.

Kris Wu parlayed his success in K-pop into opportunities in the English-speaking entertainment world. Once a rapper and a singer in the South Korean-based boy band EXO, the Canada-born Wu (whose real name is Wu Yifan) focused on a solo career and acting in films since the mid-2010s. He co-starred in the Chinese blockbusters "The Mermaid" and "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back," as well as in the American-made big-budget action movies "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" and "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets."

In July 2021, a woman filed a complaint with police in Beijing, China, alleging that Wu coerced her into a sexual encounter in 2020 when she was 17 years old. She said he had an employee bring her to his home for a purported interview about an appearance in a music video, at which point he used alcohol to intoxicate her and proceeded to assault her. Wu was arrested, and after two additional women came forward with similar accusations and celebrities and other teenage women attested to Wu's online sexual harassment, he was jailed, tried, and convicted. In November 2022, the Chaoyang District Court found Wu guilty of rape and issued a prison sentence of 13 years.

Before he was a doomsday cult leader and a mass murderer who terrified Los Angeles in the late 1960s, Charles Manson was a musician. He recorded a single album and allowed the Beach Boys to record one of his songs. Other members of the Manson Family were musicians, too — most notably Bobby Beausoleil. He played in several bands, including the Grass Roots, later known as Love, best known for the critically acclaimed album "Forever Changes" LP. After leaving that act, Beausoleil bopped around through various other psychedelic bands, including Orkustra and the Magick Powerhouse of OZ.

Then Beausoleil joined the Manson operation, serving as a recruiter and dutiful killer. On Manson's orders, he stabbed music teacher Gary Hinman to death. For this, the first murder attributed to the Manson Family, Beausoleil was arrested, convicted, and in 1970, sentenced to death. When California eliminated capital punishment in 1972, Beausoleil's death sentence became a life sentence. He's been up for parole over the years, but none of his bids for release have been successful. As recently as 2019, California governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a parole board's recommendation to let out Beausoleil.

A reliable and prolific hitter in Major League Baseball, Mel Hall entered the league playing for the Chicago Cubs in 1981 and broke out in 1983, hitting .283 with 17 homers and 56 runs batted in. He finished in third place in the voting for the National League Rookie of the Year award. After a few years in Cleveland, he headed to the Yankees, amassing nearly 1,200 hits and more than 600 RBIs altogether.

Hall left American baseball to play in Japan in 1992 and returned to the MLB briefly in 1996 before retiring for good. He moved from pro baseball to amateur athletics, where in Fort Worth, Texas, he coached girls' teams in softball and basketball. In 2009, Hall was convicted for crimes perpetuated against a 12-year-old member of his basketball team — three charges of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child. Witnesses for the prosecution included teenage athletes who'd worked with Hall and testified that he'd taken improper liberties with them, ranging from unwanted touching to explicit conversations, as well as sexual assault. Hall's sentence: 45 years in prison, with eligibility for parole arriving 22.5 years into the term.

When Todd Roper departed the popular alternative rock band Cake in 2001, veteran drummer Pete McNeal joined as his replacement. Until 2004, he toured extensively with the group while also occasionally contributing to its recorded output. McNeal also worked as a studio musician and sideman for other acts of the era, including mega-popular jazz-pop artist Norah Jones, singer-songwriter Brett Dennen, and Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty's solo work.

In 2014, McNeal earned a long prison sentence for crimes committed on Thanksgiving in 2009. During a holiday party he attended in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles, he sexually abused a 3-year-old child. Following a mistrial that ended with an indecisive jury, a new hearing concluded in 2013 with McNeal being declared guilty. His punishment: He was sent to prison for 15 years to life. Should he ever be paroled, he'll remain on California's sex offender registry for the remainder of his lifetime.

A dominant figure in music in the 1990s and beyond, Sean Combs, variously billing himself as "Puff Daddy," "P. Diddy," and "Diddy," formed his own record label, Bad Boy Entertainment. There, the writer/producer/executive/hype man made Notorious B.I.G. into one of the most successful rappers of all time. After the latter's death, he moved in front of the microphone. In 1997, Combs repeatedly topped the charts, as a performer or co-creator, and he remained an important character in pop music — and a well-covered celebrity — well into the 21st century.

In 2023, Combs' former partner, R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit alleging pervasive physical and sexual abuse across their relationship. That lawsuit was quickly settled, but numerous individuals came forward to accuse him of sexual assault over incidents stretching back to the early 1990s. In 2024, authorities acting on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security executed raids on Combs' homes, seeking evidence of sex trafficking. The musician was arrested in September 2024. 

"For decades, Sean Combs ... abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct," the indictment read (via Billboard). "To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources, and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled." Twice denied bail, Combs awaits his May 2025 trial from the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life.

When auditioning for the 2021 season of "American Idol," 16-year-old Caleb Kennedy of Spartanburg, South Carolina, wowed judges with the performance of an original song. Easily selected into the televised musical competition, Kennedy advanced each week with his country-style singing. After making it all the way to the top 7 of his season of "American Idol," Kennedy took himself out of contention. "There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way," Kennedy wrote on Instagram in a since-deleted post (via CNN). "I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that's not an excuse." The footage in question depicted a much-younger Kennedy in close proximity to someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan white hood.

Less than a year after his "American Idol" exit, Kennedy, by then 17 years old, was arrested and charged with DUI and the vehicular-related death of Larry Duane Parris in Pacolet, South Carolina. Kennedy, intoxicated at the time, was accused of piloting his pickup truck into a private home, where it killed Parris. In 2024, Kennedy received a sentence of eight years incarceration (of which three years will be on house arrest), a $15,100 fine, mental health and substance abuse counseling, and five years of probation upon his release

With the explosive popularity of her YouTube channel "8Passengers," Ruby Franke was one of the biggest names in vlogging. Starting in 2015, the Utah-based mother started posting videos depicting the day-to-day life of herself, her husband, and their six children. The channel amassed more than 2.5 million followers and millions more views before Franke abruptly changed direction. She joined with psychologist Jodi Hildebrandt to create the life-coaching podcast "ConneXions" and abandoned "8Passengers" in favor of a brand promoting ultra-strict parenting practices called "Moms of Truth."

In 2023, after one of Franke's visibly abused and malnourished children escaped home and was spotted begging a neighbor for food, water, and assistance, police in Utah arrested Franke and Hildebrandt. YouTube subsequently banned Franke and pulled down her videos. Charged with four counts of aggravated child abuse, Franke was sentenced to a prison sentence in 2024 for each crime, which will mean the YouTuber will live behind bars for as long as 30 years.

Drew Drechsel made a name for himself on the televised athletic competition circuit. After competing on the televised parkour contest "Jump City: Seattle" in 2011, he moved on to "American Ninja Warrior." A frequent contestant on the program for years, Drechsel was declared the winner of the reality show's 11th season in 2019. He also appeared on other entries in the "American Ninja Warrior" franchise including a celebrities-only version, German television's take, and "American Ninja Warrior Junior."

In 2020, police arrested Drechsel at his home in Saint Cloud, Florida. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office serving New Jersey, Drechsel faced four charges relating to a sexual relationship he began in 2014 with a then 15-year-old girl he met at an "American Ninja Warrior" event. In 2023, Drechsel entered a guilty plea, and in June 2024, he was sentenced to just more than 10 years in prison for those crimes.

In 2016, Bravo expanded its "Real Housewives" reality show universe with a series set in the high-status, heavily monied suburbs of the Washington, D.C. area, "The Real Housewives of Potomac." Karen Huger, part of a prominent family who lived in the area for a century, started multiple businesses, including a fragrance line for premium department stores, her own brands of candles and wigs, and she reigned over high-society circles for so long she was known as the Grande Dame of the Potomac.

Huger starred in more than 170 episodes of "Real Housewives of Potomac," and she made a cameo appearance on a brand-new CBS soap, "Beyond the Gates," just before she went to prison in 2025. In 2007, the businesswoman was arrested in Montgomery County, Virginia for driving while intoxicated. And then she was arrested, and convicted, for the same offense on two more occasions, but was never remanded into custody. After a fourth conviction, a judge sentenced the socialite and reality star to a prison term of one year.

In January 2019, Jonathan Porter, known professionally as Blueface, landed his first single in the top 10 of Billboard's pop chart with "Thotiana," also a hit on the R&B chart and in the United Kingdom. The song was just over a year old, as Blueface's profile had grown in stature through an organic rise as a social media phenomenon, and it was remixed by major acts like Cardi B, YG, and Nicki Minaj. The rapper would wind up a one-hit wonder, however, as follow-up singles like "Bleed It," "Daddy," and "Stop Cappin" failed to attract the public's attention the way that "Thotiana" had.

In September 2021, Porter was denied entry into a Los Angeles area bar, and he reacted by joining his entourage in attacking the security guard manning the door. The violent assault was caught on tape, and the rapper was convicted for his role in the assault. Porter's manager negotiated a suspended sentence, but then he was found to be in possession of drug equipment, and the presiding judge sentenced him to a four-year prison term in August 2024. Taking time served under consideration, Blueface will likely remain in prison until late 2025.

Trap music, the mesmerizing and haunting rap subgenre that incorporates singing, was popularized in large part by Willie Maxwell II, better known as Fetty Wap. Emerging with the Remy Boyz collective in 2014, Fetty Wap went solo a year later. "Trap Queen" went to No. 2 on the pop and R&B charts that year, followed by his first of a string of big hits including "My Way," "679," and "Again." Unfortunately, the rapper's Grammy-nominated career got sidetracked by legal issues. In October 2021, the musician was arrested by FBI agents at the Rolling Loud Festival in New York on allegations that he was an instrumental figure in a drug trafficking ring. He was accused of helping to obtain fentanyl and heroin from the Western U.S. for sale in the New York City area.

Maxwell pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine. "I hurt my community, people who look up to me, my family, and myself," the rapper said during a 2023 sentencing hearing (via NBC News). "I am truly sorry for any pain I caused." Despite his remorse, a judge sentenced Fetty Wap to six years in federal prison plus five years of supervision after he's released.

When the "Dirty South" brand of hip-hop took off in the early 2000s, one of its biggest stars was Louisiana-born No Limit Records rapper Michael Tyler, aka Mystikal. With a distinctive style of gravelly-voiced shouting, Mystikal became a club favorite for hits like "Danger (Been So Long)," "Bouncin' Back," and the ubiquitous "Shake Ya A**." But he disappeared from the charts and the music scene in 2002, shortly after he was arrested on charges of extortion and aggravated rape. The rapper had allegedly staged a confrontation with a hairdresser who once worked for him, claiming they stole $80,000 from him in the form of checks. Mystikal allegedly told the woman that he wouldn't press charges if she performed a sexual act on him.

In Louisiana, an aggravated rape conviction carries a potential life sentence, and so the rapper negotiated to plead guilty to a lesser charge, reducing his prison sentence to six years. Upon release in 2010, Mystikal was added to the registry of sex offenders, which increased penalties incurred should he ever be convicted of similar crimes in the future. In 2016, the rapper was again arrested for alleged kidnapped and sexual assault, landing him behind bars for a year and a half before prosecutors dropped the case. Then, in 2022, Mystikal was once again arrested for sexual assault in Baton Rouge. As of 2025, he's still being held in prison awaiting trial, which, if culminating in a conviction, may mean a life sentence for the rapper.

Kellen Winslow was a three-time All-Pro selection and Hall of Fame inductee. And when his son, fellow tight end Kellen Winslow II, entered the NFL after being selected sixth in the 2004 draft, expectations were very high. Winslow II performed respectably, turning out a nine-season career for the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, and New York Jets. He was also invited to the 2007 Pro Bowl, and though he left football after playing most of the 2013 season, he attempted to make comebacks in 2017 and 2018.

In 2018, police in North County, California arrested the retired athlete, who was accused of multiple acts of sexual assault. Winslow II allegedly committed the crimes against a female hitchhiker, an unhoused woman, and a third individual he met at a party in 2003. Other crimes soon came to light, stemming from inappropriate behavior in a gym and exposing himself to a neighbor. Factoring in a plea deal and a jury that couldn't come to a final decision on some of the charges, Winslow II was sentenced to 14 years in prison for rape and sexual misconduct crimes in early 2021.

Following a stint as an U.S. Army sergeant in the first Gulf War, Harrison Norris Jr. adopted the stage name of Hardbody Harrison and joined World Championship Wrestling, appearing on popular broadcasts like "WCW Monday Nitro" and "WCW Starrcade 1997." He then left the wrestling organization and in 2000 filed a racial discrimination lawsuit, collecting a settlement of $1 million. Norris returned to sports entertainment television, competing under his stage name on FX's "Toughman" reality show and winning the heavyweight division in 2000.

In 2007, Norris returned to the public eye when he was convicted on 24 federal charges. The government's case against him stemmed from an illegal sex work ring he reportedly ran in Atlanta as early as 2001. The probe revealed several incidents in which the wrestler and an accomplice lured women dealing with economic instability and substance abuse into a web of sex work and domestic labor for which they were not paid and incurred fees. Norris was found guilty on charges of forced labor, sex trafficking, witness tampering, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and holding women against their will under the auspices of paying off a debt. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2008.

Dancehall, the powerful, club-soundtracking form of Jamaican reggae, has enjoyed increased popularity in the U.S. in the 2000s thanks to artists like Beenie Man, Shaggy, Sean Paul, and Vybz Kartel. That's the performing name of Adidja Palmer, the self-proclaimed "Worl' Boss" who has worked with Pitbull, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Missy Elliott. He scored hits in the U.S. with "Tekk," "Picture This," and "Rampling Shop," the latter of which was barred from the radio in Jamaica for its obscene lyrical content. That was the most controversial thing to mar Palmer's life and career until 2011.

According to police, that's when Palmer allegedly murdered and mutilated associate Clive "Lizard" Williams at his home in Kingston, Jamaica as punishment for stealing some firearms. During a 65-day trial, the lengthiest ever in Jamaica at that point, prosecutors presented into evidence text messages from the musician in which he explicitly confessed to the crimes. Palmer was sentenced to life in prison, with his first chance for parole coming in 2049.

Los Angeles native Darryl Henley played college football locally, and he was a consensus All-American in 1988 for his work as a star cornerback at UCLA. In 1989, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, where he'd play his entire career. The Rams' starting cornerback for six years, Henley retired at the conclusion of the 1994 regular season.

Just months after he departed the world of professional football, Henley entered a federal penitentiary. In 1995, he was one of four defendants who were convicted in a cocaine trafficking case. Henley's admitted role? Financing the operation, which was overseen by a friend from childhood. He received a sentence of 20 years for that case, but in 1997, the courts tacked an additional 21 years onto his term. While awaiting his sentencing hearing in custody, Henley had used a snuck-in phone to arrange the distribution of heroin valued at $1 million. He had also tried to order the murders of the judge who had presided over his previous trial and a Rams cheerleader who had served as a crucial witness for the prosecution.

Linebacker Eric Naposki entered the NFL with the New England Patriots in 1988 and then briefly played for the Indianapolis Colts before he joined the new World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe). He was part of the Barcelona Dragons' defensive line for four years, helping the team to a World Bowl championship in 1997.

In 1994, while still an active professional football player, Naposki was romantically involved with a woman named Nanette Packard. She was also seeing William McLaughlin and was the beneficiary of his $1 million life insurance policy. McLaughlin was found dead in his home — he'd been shot six times — and Packard was discovered to have written hundreds of checks from McLaughlin's accounts. Police believed Naposki was connected in some way, but they lacked evidence to levy any charges at the time. By 2009, authorities had built a case and arrested Naposki, believing him to be the individual that fired the six shots that killed McLaughlin. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).