Celebrities in Prison

Celebrity Convicts

This category includes incarcerated actors, politicians, musicians, and athletes. In most instances, these individuals are imprisoned only after numerous run-ins with the law. Their fame usually affords them a certain amount of leniency from the courts, until they have offended numerous times. Notable examples include boxer Mike Tyson, who was imprisoned on a rape charge; televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, who were incarcerated for fraud and conspiracy; and actor Robert Downey, Jr., and musician Bobby Brown, who both spent time behind bars for drugs. In addition, night club owner Steve Rubell was incarcerated for tax evasion, Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards and Ohio Congressman James Traficant, Jr., were sentenced to prison for racketeering, and former NFL player and music entrepreneur Suge Knight was locked up for assault and a probation violation. Most recently, businesswoman Martha Stewart recieved a 5-month sentence for lying to investigators about her sale of InClone Systems stock in late 2001.

Ex-Con Celebrities

Ex-con celebrities are usually individuals who were incarcerated before they became famous and have subsequently reached celebrity status in some area of endeavor (usually) unrelated to their crimes and incarceration. Often, their demographic characteristics and the circumstances of their crimes closely approximate those typical of the incarcerated population. This category includes comedian Tim Allen, who was sentenced to prison for drugs; boxer Ralph “Sonny” Liston, who was found guilty of larceny and robbery; and activist and community leader Malcolm X and musician Merle Haggard, both of whom did time for burglary. Author Piri Thomas was incarcerated for attempted murder, while boxing promoter Don King served a sentence for manslaughter, actor Mark Walhberg spent time in prison for an assault charge, and author and security consultant Frank Abagnale was convicted of forgery and fraud.

Convict Celebrities

Convict celebrities include individuals who, while quite ordinary in many respects, found themselves elevated to the status of celebrity because of media coverage of their crimes. In this category, we find individuals who lived most of their lives prior to the crime for which they were incarcerated in relative obscurity. They are, in other words, famous exclusively because of the media coverage of their crime. Their newsworthiness can be attributed to a number of factors, most commonly the seriousness of their crime or the victimization of a public figure. Their notoriety may also derive from several factors such as their relatively privileged social standing, location, rarity, and prurience. In many respects, the experiences of these individuals are the darkest embodiment of artist Andy Warhol's “15 minutes of fame.” This category is the most diverse and populous, and includes an assortment of serial killers such as Charles Manson, high-priced sex trade workers such as Sydney Barrows and Heidi Fleiss, bombers such as Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), criminal bankers such as Charles Keating and Michael Milken, and assassins or would-be assassins such as Mark David Chapman and John Hinckley, Jr. It also covers celebrity stalkers such as Robert Hoskins and statutory rapists such as the teacher Mary Kay Letourneau.

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