When reality stars sign up to appear on TV, they agree to show it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Weddings and births make up the first group, illness and deaths the middle one, and legal troubles the last.
Many popular reality stars find themselves in that last boat when they’re convicted of crimes and put behind bars. Whether for tax evasion, sex crimes, or murder-for-hire, when a reality star is sent to jail it’s with the whole world watching.
Keeping reading for eight reality stars that traded life in the spotlight for life in the pokey!
Drew Drechsel (American Ninja Warrior)
The Season 11 winner of American Ninja Warrior was arrested in 2020 and charged with four counts of child sex offenses. The NBC show wound up editing Drew out of its yet-to-air All-Star season, and proceeded to put out a press release about its one-time champion’s crimes.
“Drechsel sought to have sex with a minor girl and traveled to New Jersey with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with that minor,” the press release stated. “He also enticed and coerced a minor to travel to Connecticut to engage in illicit sexual conduct and engaged in online sexual communications with a minor and induced her to manufacture sexually explicit images of herself and send them to Drechsel.”
Drew pleaded guilty to his crimes in June 2023. One year later, People reported that Drew had been sentenced to 121 months behind bars for receiving child p0rnography and enticement to travel for illicit sexual conduct. He was also sentenced to 15 years supervised release and ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.
As The Ashley previously reported, during Drew’s supervised release, he will undergo mandatory monitoring of his electronic devices. He must also disclose his financial records and submit to a polygraph test when requested.
Drew is set to be released on March 7, 2029.
Josh Duggar (19 Kids & Counting)
The eldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar seemed to have a bright future when he was appearing on his family’s reality show, 19 Kids and Counting. Josh portrayed himself as a pillar of his religious community, with a wife and seven kids and a budding career in politics.
All that changed, however, in 2019 when Josh’s used car lot was raided by the Feds. Two years later, he was arrested by federal authorities and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography. (The possession charge was later dismissed.)
He pleaded not guilty, but was convicted on the charges after an eight-day trial. Josh wound up being sentenced to 12.5 years behind bars.
Josh entered Texas’ Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) Seagoville in June 2022, the same month that his lawyers first filed an appeal in his case. His appeal was denied the following year, and the Supreme Court declined to hear his case in June 2024.
Josh remains in the Texas prison, where he is not scheduled to be released until October 2, 2032.
Julie Chrisley (Chrisley Knows Best)
Julie is currently locked up for crimes related to tax evasion and fraud. While she was initially sentenced to seven years in jail, last year Julie managed to get 14 months taken off of that.
Amid her ongoing appeal, Julie received some good news in July when her prison sentence was overturned due to lack of evidence. Last week, though, that potential light at the end of the tunnel was snuffed out for Julie when Judge Eleanor L. Ross ruled to uphold the original sentence.
“I hope you and everyone concerned with this case are more concerned with your children’s wellbeing and not with TV ratings, podcasts, etc.,” Judge Ross told the mom of four. “My sentence will not change.”
Julie proceeded to apologize and lament the challenges of life at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Later, in an interview with The Sun, Jay V. Surgent, one of Julie’s lawyers, blasted the judge’s “disappointing decision,” which he claimed showed “bias” and was due to his client’s “fame.”
While Julie waits for her lawyers to file her next appeal, she has one legal win to celebrate. Juge Ross reduced her restitution from $17.2 million to $4.7 million.
Julie is scheduled to be released on April 22, 2028.
Todd Chrisley (Chrisley Knows Best)
Like Julie, Todd is serving time for tax evasion and fraud crimes. He was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison for his offenses, but had that number knocked down to 10 last year.
The ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ star’s time behind bars at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Pensacola, Florida, has been anything but pleasant. The one-time reality star claimed in a December phone call with Brian Entin of News Nation that he’s been mistreated by prison staff, been served out-of-date food, and encountered rats.
Todd additionally bemoaned the challenges of communicating with his incarcerated wife, which he called “devastating.”
There’s little hope that Todd’s situation will change any time soon, as his most-recent appeal attempt was rejected.
Todd’s scheduled release date is July 26, 2032.
James “Tim” Norman (Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s)
Tim is currently serving life in prison for arranging the 2016 murder of his nephew, Andre Montgomery Jr. for money.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri revealed that the “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” star took out a life insurance policy worth $450,000 on Andre, then arranged through intermediaries for his 20-year-old nephew’s murder.
Tim was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in September 2022. The following March, Tim was sentenced to two life sentences for his crimes.
“Tim Norman portrayed one image to the public, but there were more-sinister intentions lurking underneath,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Angie Danis said. “And the measure of someone’s character is what they do when they think no one is watching. When he thought no one was watching, he planned the execution of his nephew and carried it out.”
Three other people have been sentenced in Andre’s murder: the shooter, Travell Anthony Hill, to 32 years; a woman who provided Andre’s location, Terica Taneisha Ellis, to three years; insurance agent Waiel “Wally” Rebhi Yaghnam to three years.
Tim and Andre both appeared on the reality series, which documented Miss Robbie Montgomery (Tim’s mom and Andre’s grandmother) and her family’s soul-food restaurants, Sweetie Pie’s. The series aired for nine seasons, before its 2018 finale.
Geoffrey Paschel (90 Day Fiancé)
Geoffrey and his fiancé, Varya Malina, appeared on Season 4 of 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days. The season documented Geoffrey’s love story with Russian native Varya, and ended with Geoffrey proposing to her and Vayra moved to the United States to be with him.
In 2019, Geoffrey was arrested for allegedly attacking his then-girlfriend in their Tennessee home. He was found guilty of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault, and interference with an emergency call two years later in October 2021. Geoffrey was sentenced to 18 years in prison without the chance of parole.
Varya has continued to stand by Geoffrey’s side throughout his arrest and subsequent incarceration, at one point even joining Geoffrey’s kids in asking fans for money to help “clear his name.” The couple continues to fight hard to try to get Geoffrey’s sentence overturned.
In July 2022, Geoffrey filed an appeal, which was denied by a judge in September 2023.
Geoffrey is currently set to be released on August 15, 2038.
Jen Shah (The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City)
The Real Housewife encountered legal woes in 2021, when she was arrested in dramatic fashion—the lead up to the cuffing aired on ‘RHOSLC’—alongside her assistant, Stewart Smith. Jen was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Jen initially insisted she was innocent of the crimes, but wound up pleading guilty in 2022. She was sentenced to over six and-a-half years in prison. Her time was lessened by a year in 2023.
Jen, who apologized to her victims and vowed to pay restitution to them, reported to Federal Prison Camp Bryan Prison in Texas in early 2023. One year later, she gave People a look into her life behind bars, sharing a journal entry and photos with the outlet.
“Upon entering FPC Bryan, I wholeheartedly believed that no one was suffering as badly as I was,” she wrote in part. “I quickly recognized that so many women are here battling and overcoming circumstances far worse than mine. Their resilience inspires and truly humbles me.”
She added, “There is still so much I must learn while I am here at FPC Bryan. I am grateful God has given me a better foundation to appreciate his unwavering love and blessings to fight for that moment of happiness each day.”
Jen’s current release date is January 3, 2028.
Toby Willis (The Willis Family)
Toby first came to fame when his 12 children competed as a family band on America’s Got Talent in 2014. After the family’s band– called The Willis Clan— was eliminated in the season’s quarter finals, the family was given its own reality TV show on TLC.
‘The Willis Family’ showcased Toby and his wife Brenda and their 12 kids as they traveled the country and performed, while maintaining strong Christian values.
On September 9, 2016, Toby was arrested in Kentucky after fleeing Tennessee to avoid arrest for child rape, a crime that occurred in 2004. Two days after Toby’s arrest, ‘The Willis Family’ was cancelled.
In July 2017, Toby pleaded guilty to four counts of child rape, The Tennessean reported. He was given two 25-year sentences and two 40-year sentences for his crimes, all of which will be served concurrently. After Toby was in prison, four of his daughters– Jessica, Jasmine, Jeanette and Jennifer— publicly came forward as some of Toby’s victims of sexual and physical abuse.
The one-time TLC star will be 87 before he’s eligible to get out of jail. His release date is set for September 9, 2056.
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(Photos: USA Network; TLC; Instagram; BOP)
