It always shocks the showbiz circuit – and wider world too – when a celebrity is sent to prison for a crime they have been found guilty of.
Some spent time in jail before finding fame, others found themselves gracing headlines in every newspaper around the world for their crimes.
From Harry Potters stars to Marvel’s Robert Downey Jr, to noughties reality stars Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, a number of stars have spent time behind bars – some even spent years locked up.
Here are the celebrities who have done hard time for their crimes – and come out the other side!
Jamie Waylett (Harry Potter star)
Jamie Waylett played Vincent Crabbe in the Harry Potter films (Image: Warner Bros)
The 30-year-old was imprisoned in 2012 for two years after he participated in the 2011 England riots.
He rose to fame playing Hogwarts bully and best friend to Draco Malfoy Vincent Crabbe in the Harry Potter films.
In 2012, he was found guilty of violent disorder at London’s Wood Green Crown Court after he admitted to swigging from a stolen bottle of champagne.
The actor was pictured holding a petrol bomb during the riots but the jury cleared him of intending to destroy property with it.
He was captured on CCTV with a gang of eight people who went into Chalk Farm on August 8.
The images showed him accepting a bottle of champagne from a rioter who had just looted a Sainsbury’s supermarket then glugged down the expensive contents.
Robert Downey, Jr
Marvel star Robert Downey served time for drug abuse (Image: Culver City Police Department)
The Iron Man star has battled multiple drug addictions and now lives a clean life, which has seen him return to play Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But Robert battled many demons in his earlier life and was sent to prison in 1999 for violating probation.
He was on probation after police found heroin, cocaine, and a pistol in the actor’s car when he was pulled over for speeding, according to the BBC in 1996.
A month later, while on parole, he trespassed into a neighbour’s home while under the influence of a controlled substance, and fell asleep in one of the beds.
After that, he received three years of probation and was ordered to undergo compulsory drug testing.
In 1997, he missed one of the court-ordered drug tests and had to spend six months in the Los Angeles County jail.
After Robert missed another required drug test in 1999, he was arrested once more and was sentenced to a three-year prison term at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, California.
50 Cent
50 Cent went to prison before he found fame as a rapper (Image: New York State Department of Correctional Services)
The 44-year-old rapper, real name Curtis James Jackson, has openly admitted he sold drugs while in school from the age of 12 and it landed him in prison in the end, before he found fame.
At age 12, Jackson began dealing narcotics when his grandparents thought he was in after-school programs and he has confessed to bringing guns and drug money to school.
In the tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School and admits he stopped hiding it afterwards and told his grandmother: “I sell drugs.”
On June 29, 1994, he was arrested for selling four vials of cocaine to an undercover police officer.
He was arrested again three weeks later when police searched his home and found heroin, 10 ounces of crack cocaine and a starting pistol.
Jackson was sentenced to three to nine years in prison, and served six of those months in a boot camp where he earned his GED qualifications. He has said that he did not use cocaine himself.
O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson was imprisoned for armed robbery and kidnapping crimes (Image: Clark County Detention Center)
The retired American football player, 72, was found guilty of armed robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to serve nine years for the crime he committed in 2007.
Known famously as the O. J. Simpson robbery case, a court heard how on the night of September 13, 2007, a group of men led by Simpson entered a room in the Palace Station hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia dealer, testified that the group broke into his hotel room and stole memorabilia at gunpoint, which lasted for around six minutes.
Three days later, on September 16, 2007, Simpson was arrested and held without bail.
He admitted taking the items, which he said had been stolen from him, but denied breaking into the room.
Simpson also denied the allegation that he or the people with him carried weapons.
However, on October 3, 2008, Simpson was found guilty of all 12 charges.
On December 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison with eligibility for parole in nine years (in October 2017).
On July 20, 2017, Simpson was granted parole and was freed on October 1, 2017.
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan had to serve her sentence from her home due to prison overcrowding (Image: Santa Monica Police Department)
The Mean Girls star rose to fame as a child and sadly fell into the world of drug addiction, but now she is returning to the spotlight with many years sober under her belt.
Lindsay, 33, was sent down in 2010 to serve a jail sentence for a probation violation after it was imposed in 2007 in relation to drunk driving and drug possession charges.
In May 2010, while she was travelling to promote a film at the Cannes Film Festival, Lindsay missed a court date, a DUI progress hearing. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest, and she posted bail.
A judge sentenced her to 90 days in jail, in addition to 90 days of inpatient rehab. After serving 14 days in jail she was released due to overcrowding.
Lindsay then entered an inpatient substance treatment centre, at which she served 23 days of her 90-day sentence.
However, Lindsay’s troubles didn’t stop there as in September 2010, her probation was revoked after she failed a drug test. She spent the day in jail and was released on bail.
Later that week, she entered the Betty Ford Centre for treatment of substance abuse. She was released in January 2011.
In February 2011, Lindsay was arrested for the theft of a necklace from a jewellery store a month earlier.
She pleaded no contest to the theft and was sentenced to 120 days in jail and community service. Due to jail overcrowding, Lindsay’s sentence was reduced to 35 days of house arrest.
In November 2011, she was sentenced to 30 days in county jail and additional community service as a result of not fulfilling her community service sentence. She served less than five hours in jail as a result of overcrowding.
In March 2013, Lindsay pleaded no contest to reckless driving and lying to law enforcement after a June 2012 car accident.
She turned herself in to authorities and was released shortly after. She was sentenced to 90 days in a treatment centre. Lindsay spent 90 days in rehabilitation between May and July 2013.
A judge in May 2015, ended Lindsay’s probation after she completed the community service stemming from her 2012 reckless driving arrest.
This would make it the first time in almost eight years that she was probation free.
Paris Hilton
Paris couldn’t help but strike a pose for her mugshot (Image: Los Angeles Police Department)
In 2007, the 39-year-old was sentenced to 45 days in a county jail for violating her probation, following an alcohol-related reckless driving case.
She had been arrested on suspicion of drinking under the influence on September 27, 2006, while on her way to In-N-Out Burger.
Paris ultimately pleaded down to reckless driving in January 2007 and was sentenced to three years’ probation, ordered to attend alcohol-education classes and fined $1,500.
However, not long after and in the same month, Paris was pulled over for allegedly speeding and having no headlights on when she wasn’t supposed to be on the road anyway.
Following that, on May 4, 2007, Paris was sentenced to 45 days in jail and was ordered to turn herself in on June 5.
The star spoke out and apologised for her actions, saying in a statement: “I could not live with myself if anyone was injured or killed while I was driving while impaired.
“Clearly, no one should – no matter how slightly. I am ready to face the consequences of violating probation. No one is above the law. I surely am not.
“I do not expect to be treated better than anyone else who violated probation. However, my hope is that I will not be treated worse.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
