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20 Most Famous People in Prison Right Now

20 Most Famous People in Prison Right Now
VOICE OVER: Ryan Wild WRITTEN BY: Jordy McKen
From Hollywood stars to music icons, some famous faces have traded red carpets for prison cells. Join WatchMojo as we explore the most notorious celebrities currently behind bars. We'll delve into their crimes, sentences, and the shocking fall from grace that landed them in prison. Our list includes Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, Jared Fogle, Josh Duggar, Elizabeth Holmes, Danny Masterson, Joe Exotic, Suge Knight, Michael Jace, Gary Glitter, and more. These cases range from fraud and assault to more serious offenses, showcasing how fame doesn't shield one from the consequences of their actions. Which case surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments!
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were examining the most infamous and widely known celebrities who, at the time of the videos publication, are incarcerated in jail.

Kidd Creole
After rising to fame as a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Nathaniel Glover, better known as Kidd Creole, stepped away from the music business as the groups success faltered. In 2017, then working as a handyman in Manhattan, New York City, Creole spoke to homeless man, John Jolly. First spotted on CCTV, the duo then moved out of view. At this point, Creola fatally stabbed Jolly. The former musician claimed he stabbed him after Jolly made advances towards him. However, the criminal system didnt agree with his claim of self-defense. In 2022, Creola was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter and received 16 years in jail. Upon release, hell undergo a further 5 years of supervision.

Mel Hall
For over a decade, Hall played his trade for several MLB teams, such as the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and the New York Yankees. He even played in Japan before hanging up his bat in 1996. However, none of that mattered in 2007 when he was arrested in Lewisville, Texas, for sexual assault. Over time, more women came forward with their experiences with Hall, which were committed when they were minors. In one case, Hall integrated himself into a familys home on the promise he wanted to marry their daughter. He had used his sporting celebrity to prey on victims. In 2009, Hall was found guilty on several counts and was sentenced to 45 years in jail.

C-Murder
As a member of the hip-hop group TRU, Corey Miller, better known as C-Murder, enjoyed success with them as well as releasing his own work. In the '90s especially, his albums were regularly high in the charts. However, in 2002, all that vanished when C-Murder was arrested for the killing of a teenager named Steve Thomas. On top of receiving a 10-year sentence for a separate attempted murder charge, in 2009, the musician was found guilty of Thomass killing and sentenced to life. C-Murder had contested the charge and has appealed unsuccessfully several times over the years. In 2018, two witnesses recanted their testimonies and claimed they had been forced to give them by the police. However, in 2023, C-Murders sentence was upheld by a judge.

Tammy Lynn Sytch
In her heyday, there wasnt a more famous woman in professional wrestling than Sytch. Known as Sunny with the WWE, in 1996, the wrestling manager became the most downloaded celebrity online. In 2011, Sytch was rewarded for her legacy by the WWE by being inducted into their Hall of Fame. However, away from the ring, Sytch has regularly had run-ins with the legal system. It got significantly worse in 2022. While driving under the influence in Volusia County, Florida, Sytch crashed into the back of another car, taking the life of the driver, Julian Lasseter. In 2023, after pleading no contest, Sytch was sentenced to 17 and a half years in jail. Afterward, shell undergo 8 years of probation.

Todd & Julie Chrisley
After the success of 2014s reality show Chrisley Knows Best, the family began spawning a media empire with several spin-off shows. But not long after the reign began, it started to fall apart. After being indicted on several charges earlier, in 2022, Todd and Julie found themselves in court over allegations of bank fraud and tax evasion. In one accusation, the duo had seemingly given banks false documents when applying for loans worth over $30 million. The husband and wife team, alongside their accountant, Peter Tarantino, were found guilty. Todd got 12 years, Julie received 7, and Tarantino went down for 3. In 2024, after an appeal, Julie is set to be re-sentenced for her role while shes in the custody of US marshals.

Tory Lanez
Bursting onto the music scene in 2016, Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson, better known as Tory Lanez, was carving out a successful career as a singer and rapper with a string of top-selling albums and singles. However, in 2020, Lanez was arrested in Los Angeles, California, for carrying a concealed weapon after violence took place at a house party. Soon after, Megan Thee Stallion publicly stated he had shot her multiple times. While Lanez denied the accusation, even releasing an album nearly entirely about the allegations, and allegedly endorsed a smear campaign against Megan, he was still arrested. In 2023, after the Canadian was found guilty on several counts, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Jen Shah
From the first season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, in 2020, Shah highlighted her lifestyle and marriage to the University of Utahs football coach, Sharrieff Shah. Yet, in the space of a year, her growing reputation in reality TV became infamous for all the wrong reasons. Even recorded during the show, Shah was accused of money laundering and wire fraud, which she was arrested for. Shah allegedly targeted elderly and vulnerable people, claiming to offer business services in exchange for hefty fees. In 2023, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Shah was sentenced to 6 and a half years in jail. However, due to being a model prisoner, her sentence has been reduced multiple times.

Ryan Grantham
Following his first screen acting role in 2007, Grantham shouldve had a long career in the industry, especially after performances in Supernatural, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, iZombie, and Riverdale. However, that career was forever broken in 2020. Grantham, with a desire to attack Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, fatally shot his own mother in Squamish, British Columbia, to apparently spare her from seeing his planned assassination. He then recorded his confession. On his way to Trudeau in a car filled with weapons, Grantham changed his mind, eventually giving himself to the police. In 2022, the former actor pleaded guilty to his crime and was sentenced to life in prison, with possible parole after 14 years.

Amy Locane
Known for her work in the sitcom Spencer and the soap opera Melrose Place, Locane took on various film roles in the 90s. However, by 2005, she retired from screen acting beyond a couple of short films. In 2010, any hopes of a comeback vanished when Locane was arrested after speeding and driving under the influence, resulting in her crashing and taking the life of Helene Seeman. In 2013, she was sentenced to 3 years and was released in 2015. However, the outrage over the lenient sentence resulted in appeals, leading to Locane being sentenced to 5 years in 2019. Yet after she appealed, she was re-sentenced to 8 years in 2020 and is due to be released on parole at the end of 2024.

Ian Watkins
Like many of us, if you were a teenage emo in the early 2000s, then you likely listened to Welsh band Lostprophets. However, those CDs were quickly disposed of in 2012. After several arrests that year for possessing illegal substances, a search was conducted at lead singer Watkins home by the police. They discovered obscene content on his computer involving minors, and later, there was evidence he had assaulted some. Any hope by fans that the officials were mistaken was dashed in 2013 when Watkins pleaded guilty to several counts. He was sentenced to 29 years in jail plus an additional 10 months for possessing a phone in his cell. The mothers of two of his victims received 14 and 17 years for aiding him.

Gary Glitter
With sparkly costumes and big hair, Glitter was one of the faces of the glam rock genre of music, providing him with a string of hits. Yet his legendary status was destroyed when he was sentenced to jail for possessing indecent material of minors in 1999. After his release, Glitter traveled around the world. In 2006, he was convicted in Vietnam for assaulting youth. After his release, he reluctantly returned to the UK. In 2015, as part of Operation Yewtree, Glitter was found guilty of historical cases of assault against minors and sentenced to 16 years. While he was released in 2023, Glitter broke his license terms after allegedly looking at offensive material on his phone and was recalled to jail.


Michael Jace
Best known for his work as Officer Julien Lowe in The Shield and a minor role in Forrest Gump, Jaces life was set to change in 2014 when his wife, April, requested a divorce. Rather than accept her decision, Jace fatally shot her at their home in Los Angeles, California, when she returned after collecting their kids from baseball practice. He planned to injure her and even taunted April over her passion for running during the attack. But instead, Jace took her life. Shortly after, he called 9-1-1 to tell them what hed done. In 2016, the disgraced actor was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years to life in jail.


Suge Knight[a]
As the co-founder of Death Row Records, Suge Knight played a significant role in shaping the West Coast hip-hop scene. But just as his influence grew, so did his run-ins with the law. In 2015, while on the set of the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, Knight got into an altercation with two men, Terry Carter and Cle Bone Sloan. He is alleged to have run over both of them with a pickup truck, killing Carter and leaving Sloan with severe injuries. Authorities initially charged Knight with murder and attempted murder, but he later pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. In 2018, he was handed a 28-year prison term, and will be eligible for parole in 2034.


Joe Exotic
Controversial zookeeper and businessman Joe Exotic gained international recognition when he was featured in the wildly popular Netflix series Tiger King. Among other things, the show depicted the intense rivalry between Exotic and animal rights activist Carole Baskin. The relationship between the two was so strained that Exotic reportedly paid hitmen to have Baskin murdered. Additionally, he was accused of killing five tigers and selling others across state lines, in violation of federal wildlife laws. In 2019, a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on 17 charges of animal cruelty and two counts of attempted murder-for-hire. Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison. After appealing his conviction, his sentence was reduced by just one year.


Danny Masterson
That 70s Show actor Danny Masterson had faced sexual assault allegations since March 2017, with the incidents dating as far back as the early 2000s. Masterson denied the claims, but was dropped by his agency and fired from the Netflix sitcom The Ranch. Just like Masterson, some of his alleged victims were also members of the Church of Scientology, and they reported being harassed by the institution after coming forward. Mastersons first court case ended in a mistrial, but in May 2023, a second jury found him guilty of two of the three criminal counts he was facing. In September he was sentenced to 30 years to life behind bars.


Elizabeth Holmes
The healthcare technology company Theranos was founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes with the promise of revolutionizing blood testing. Holmes raised nearly a billion dollars from investors on claims that her seemingly exceptional machine - the Edison - could run multiple tests using only a few drops of blood. It was later revealed, however, that Theranos technology did not work as claimed, and the company knowingly defrauded investors. In June 2018, Holmes was charged with multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Following a highly-publicized trial, Holmes was found guilty of four criminal counts and sentenced to over 11 years in prison. She began serving her term in May of 2023.


Josh Duggar
The TLC reality series 19 Kids and Counting focused on the lives of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, and, as the title suggests, their 19 children. The show was a huge success until its abrupt cancellation in 2015 following some pretty shocking revelations. The eldest child Josh Duggar admitted to inappropriate behavior against underage individuals, including some of his own sisters. However, as the statute of limitations had passed, Duggar didnt face any criminal charges. In 2021, Duggar was arrested for receiving and possessing explicit material involving minors. He opted to fight the charges in court and was ultimately found guilty. With a nearly 13-year prison sentence handed down to him, Duggar's earliest possible release date is in 2032.


Jared Fogle
For 15 years, Jared Fogle was the face of restaurant chain Subway. Fogle claimed that a diet consisting mostly of Subway sandwiches had helped him lose nearly 250 pounds in one year. In 2015, however, his partnership with the franchise came to an end. That year, Fogles home was raided by the FBI, where they uncovered evidence that he had distributed and received obscene images and videos of minors. He also admitted to traveling across state lines to engage in unlawful conduct with an underage individual. Fogle faced a possible 50 years in prison, but after accepting a plea deal, he was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months. He is eligible for early release in 2029.


R. Kelly
Throughout most of his career, disgraced R&B star R. Kelly had been dogged by numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. The claims first came to light in 2002 when Kelly was arrested after a leaked video seemingly showed him engaging in inappropriate contact with a minor. He was, however, acquitted of those charges in 2008. It would take more than a decade for his day of reckoning to eventually come. In 2019, the Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, which featured testimonies from some of his accusers, brought the case back to the spotlight. Kelly was arrested soon after and faced multiple federal and state criminal charges. Altogether, he is serving a 31-year sentence, with a release scheduled for December 2045.


Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinsteins Hollywood empire crumbled in 2017 when The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him. The revelations ignited the MeToo movement, which saw many individuals come forward with their own experiences of misconduct. In total, more than 100 women accused Weinstein of either harassing or assaulting them, with some dating as far back as 1980. As a result, multiple criminal charges were unveiled against the producer in New York and Los Angeles. In 2020, he was sentenced to 23 years in the New York case, followed by a 16-year sentence in the Los Angeles case the next year. However, the New York conviction was overturned and he will face a retrial on those charges.


Which celebrity case of them getting a lenient sentence was the most egregious for you? Nicole Richie? Vince Neil? Matthew Broderick? Or someone else? Let us know below.
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