5 reality stars who went to jail: Amber Portwood's assault case to Renee Alway's drug use, here are their crimes
It’s not an uncommon dream to become famous and with the growing number of reality shows in America, it’s becoming even more possible to do just that. People go from being unknown to becoming superstars overnight. But once one is able to attract people’s attention, it’s very difficult to go unnoticed when they serve time. Their dirty laundry becomes everyone’s business.
Here’s a list of reality tv stars who got themselves into brawls and served time.
Renee Alway
Famous for ‘America's Next Top Model’ and its spin-off series ‘Modelville’, model Renee Alway found herself far from the glamour of the runway when she was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2013. The pressure of the modeling world seemed to be too much for this young woman as she was charged with drug possession, burglary, theft and fraud. Renee was handed a 12-year prison sentence, out of which she served five years and was granted bail.
Abby Lee
Abby Lee Dance Company founder Abby Lee Miller, who starred on Lifetime's ‘Dance Moms’, was met with trouble when she was indicted on bankruptcy fraud in 2015. She was accused of hiding income from her businesses in a secret bank account. She was found guilty of hiding $755,000 and was sentenced to 5 years in prison and was slapped with a $5M fine.
She started her sentence in July 2017 but was released to a halfway house in March 2018. A month later, she was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, which she continues to fight. She left rehab in early September and is reportedly involved in a new season of ‘Dance Moms’.
Richard Wyatt
In 2011, Richard Wyatt starred on Discovery's ‘American Guns’ which was about the daily operations of his gun shop, Gunsmoke, which is interesting since he had forfeited his federal firearms license in 2009, according to The Denver Post. In March 2018, he was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for tax fraud and conspiracy. He was ordered to surrender 490 guns. After he is released from prison, Wyatt will have three years of supervised release. He reportedly continued selling guns after he lost his federal license to do so.
Amber Portwood
At 17, this teen mom gave birth to her daughter Leah. Sadly, Amber Portwood was arrested in December 2010 and charged with two felony counts of domestic battery, one felony count of neglect of a dependent and one misdemeanor count of domestic battery after a domestic violence incident with her ex-fiancé Gary Shirley.
Today, she is still a part of the 'Teen Mom' OG family.
Richard Hatch
Richard Hatch (Getty Images)
Richard Hatch won the first season of CBS’s reality series 'Survivor' which won him a $1M grand prize but his Machiavellian maneuvering also won him a slot on TV Guide’s 2013 list of “The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".
The reality star was found guilty of two counts of tax evasion and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2006. In 2009, he was released for three years under supervision, during which he was supposed to re-file the 2000 and 2001 taxes that he owed but according to The New York Daily News, the re-filling never happened, so it was back to the prison for Mr Hatch for nine more months in 2011.