Top 10 Athletes Who Went To Jail

This boxer, who went undefeated in his career with 49 wins, 26 knockouts, and 12 world titles, has also been arrested several times since 2002 for domestic violence charges, including battery and harassment. In 2010, ex-girlfriend Josie Harris pressed charges against Mayweather, claiming that he twisted her arm and pulled her hair in front of two of their children. For this incident, Mayweather was sentenced to 87 days in the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, though he was released a month early for good behavior.

Not wanting to father a child, this former wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers opted instead to allegedly hire an assailant to shoot his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams. As she and Carruth were coming back from a movie, Adams was shot by Van Brett Watkins Sr. on November 16, 1999, dying almost a month later. Adams’ baby did survive the attack, however he suffered permanent brain damage as a result. In 2001, Carruth was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in addition to two other counts, and was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in prison, meaning he could be released as early as 2018.

A running back for the Miami Dolphins, Mercury Morris was proud to be part of their 1972 undefeated season, but he’d probably rather forget about the drug conviction he received after his NFL career ended. In 1982, Morris was found guilty of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, Morris was able to have his sentence reviewed and got a new trial. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of possession and was released in 1986, after having served only three years in jail.

For two separate incidents, this former NFL and CFL running back was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison. In 2009, he was found guilty of seven counts of domestic abuse against his girlfriend, and four years earlier, he had been found guilty of assault, after intentionally using his car to run over three teenagers. In 2015, while in prison, he was accused of killing his cellmate, but in January of 2016 before he could stand trial for murder, he was found dead in his cell, his death considered a suicide.

In a serious miscarriage of justice, this middleweight boxer was twice wrongfully convicted of a triple murder that took place in Paterson, New Jersey. When his first conviction was thrown out due to unreliable eyewitness testimony, Carter’s second trial caught the attention of Bob Dylan, who in 1975 released a protest song on Carter’s behalf. Carter spent nearly 20 years in prison, but was released in 1985 when a Federal judge overturned his second conviction due to what he considered the prosecution’s “appeal to racism rather than reason.” After his release, Carter moved to Toronto, Canada and became an activist for the wrongfully convicted.

Known initially as a tight end for the New England Patriots, Hernandez received a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-professional football player and landscaper. Lloyd was an acquaintance of Hernandez who was dating his fiancée’s sister at the time of his death. Not only was Hernandez found guilty of first-degree murder, he was also found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm. In 2012, Hernandez was also indicted for a double murder that took place outside a nightclub in Boston, a case that was postponed due the Lloyd murder trial.

A former NFL quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick is arguably now better known for his involvement in an illegal dog fighting operation. Vick’s troubles began in 2007 when his father informed the press of dogfights his son was involved in dating back to 2001. Soon after the news spread, Vick was released from the Falcons, endorsement deals dried up, and he wound up serving 21 months in a Kansas federal prison. Upon his release, Vick’s career rebounded quickly when he was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009, and earned the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2010.

Iron Mike was on top of the boxing world in the ‘80s, becoming the youngest fighter to win the WBC heavyweight title. But as the ‘90s set in, things went bad – fast. In 1992, Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of raping an 18-year-old beauty contestant in Indianapolis, but only served three years of his sentence. Tyson returned to boxing afterwards but was briefly banned from the sport following a match with Evander Holyfield, wherein Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear. Meanwhile, outside of the ring, Tyson was sentenced to a year in prison for assault in 1999 after he allegedly attacked two people in a bad case of road rage.

Known as “Blade Runner,” this South African paralympian won the gold medal for the men’s 400-meter race at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and was a source of inspiration to many. That was until 2013, when Pistorius was accused of intentionally murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorious shot her four times through a bathroom wall, but he claimed he thought there was an intruder breaking into the house. Pistorius was originally found guilty of culpable homicide and received a five-year prison sentence, but was released from prison and placed under house arrest in October 2015. His initial verdict was overturned in favor of a murder conviction, resulting in a new trial held in June 2016.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable, or in this case, dishonorable mentions:

Mike Danton

Plaxico Burress

Thomas ‘Hollywood’ Henderson

Marion Jones

Jayson Williams

A Hall of Fame running back for the Buffalo Bills, actor, and popular spokesperson, O.J. Simpson’s fall from grace began with his infamous slow speed chase. Although he was ultimately found not guilty of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, Simpson’s reputation never recovered. Then, in 2007, Simpson led a group of men who allegedly broke into a Las Vegas hotel room in an attempt to retrieve some memorabilia he claimed was rightfully his. This resulted in charges of kidnapping and armed robbery, and Simpson was handed 33 years in prison with a nine-year minimum sentence.

Do you agree with our list? Which incarcerated athlete do you think deserved the top spot? For more entertaining top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.