Celebrities Who Are Currently in - or Have Been to - Prison

You might remember Jared Fogle as the overweight spokesman for the Subway sandwich chain who lost nearly 250 pounds – which he mostly attributed to eating Subway sandwiches twice a day. In November 2015, Fogle pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and paying for sex with underage girls. He was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in federal prison, and must serve at least 13 years of the term before he’s eligible for parole. His earliest possible release date is March 2029.

Televangelist and talk-show host Jim Bakker founded the Praise the Lord (PTL) ministries, which took in nearly $160 million dollars per year at its height. He resigned from PTL after it was revealed that he paid hush money to a 21-year-old woman after having sex with her. In 1988, Bakker was indicted for conspiracy and mail and wire fraud. He was initially sentenced to 45 years in prison, which was reduced to eight years. Bakker was released from prison in 1994.

Joe Exotic became an instant celebrity as the subject of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.” In 2019 he was convicted of two counts of attempted murder for hire for trying to kill Carole Baskin, an animal activist and outspoken critic of Exotic’s business practices. He was also convicted of 17 charges related to the killing and breeding of tigers and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.

John Forté had the educational background (Phillips Exeter Academy, New York University) and musical cred (Fugees associate, collaborations with Wyclef Jean) to succeed. But he ran afoul of the law. Forté was sentenced to the mandatory minimum 14 years in 2001 after he was found guilty of possession of 31 pounds of liquid cocaine with intent to distribute. With the help of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, his sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush on Nov. 24, 2008, and he was released the following month.

The perky English actress, who died in 2015, is best remembered for uttering the phrase “Sock it to me!” on the TV comedy show, “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” after which she would get drenched with water or hit with a pie. British law enforcement socked it to Carne in 1986 when she was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport and convicted of drug possession. She was sentenced to three months in jail and released after two months.