Even if you’re famous, you still have to pay for your crimes. If the crime is severe, the sentence will be serious. Many actors, musicians, and athletes are in prison. 

Ryan Grantham

Ryan Grantham is a Canadian actor who started young, appearing in films like Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 2010. He got some high-profile roles as a teenager. 

In March 2020, Grantham approached his mother from behind as she sat playing piano in their Vancouver-area home and shot her in the head with a .22 caliber pistol. Two days later, he left with guns, ammunition, and Molotov cocktails to carry out his plans. But he changed his mind. 

Grantham returned to Vancouver and turned himself in. Two years later, he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 14 years of parole ineligibility.

 

Michael Jace

Michael Jace was known for playing cops and authority figures, including Officer Julien Lowe on “The Shield,” a famous FX cop show that ran for seven seasons. After the series ended, Jace’s acting work dried up. He declared bankruptcy in 2011 and defaulted on his mortgage in 2014. In April 2014, something terrible happened at home.

Jace shot April in the back as she arrived at the home with their sons, ages 8 and 5. He shot her twice more and called 911. April Jace died from her injuries. In 2016, Michael Jace’s testimony sealed his older son’s fate. He told the jury that his father had told his mother to “run to heaven” before shooting her. In June, Michael Jace was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years. It is unlikely he will ever walk free again.

C-Murder

Corey Miller’s older brother, Percy “Master P,” was one of the wealthiest rappers in the world. 

A 2001 incident in which Miller fired a gun outside a nightclub landed him in legal trouble. In January 2002, Miller was in another fight at a New Orleans club. He shot 16-year-old Steve Thomas in the chest. Thomas died, and Miller was tried twice. A 2003 trial resulted in a life sentence, but the conviction was overturned due to the failure of the prosecution to disclose the criminal pasts of several witnesses. 

Miller was retried in 2009 and sentenced to life again. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian have lobbied for a new look at his case, but in 2023, a federal judge upheld his conviction.

Ra Diggs

Ra Diggs is one of many rappers in prison. He got 12 life sentences and 105 years for leading the “Murderous Mad Dawgs” Blood gang, which supplied drugs to Brooklyn. Herron was convicted in 2015 of killing three people connected to the drug trade. Some of his rap lyrics were used as evidence against him.

At his sentencing, Herron said the judge and prosecutors made up the case against him. Judge Nicholas Garaufis said Herron was smart and deserved a harsh sentence.

 

Tim Norman

In 2020, Tim Norman was arrested and charged with murder-for-hire in the death of Montgomery. Terica Ellis, an exotic dancer, and Travell Hill, who shot Montgomery after Ellis lured him out of his home. The crime was simple. Norman had taken out a life insurance policy on Montgomery and stood to gain nearly half a million dollars if he died. In 2023, the evidence was enough to convict Norman, who was sentenced to life in prison. Ellis got three years, and Hill got 32.

Harrison Norris Jr.

Norris was arrested in 2007 for luring women to live with him, his wife, and one of his children as trainees for lucrative pro wrestling contracts. He held them captive, creating debt for failure to perform tasks and forcing them into prostitution. He kept them in line with threats of violence. Transporting them across state lines was enough for him to be prosecuted under a federal anti-human trafficking law. In November 2007, Norris was sentenced to life in prison.

Keith Wright

Keith Wright was signed by the Houston Texans in 2003 and retired in 2006. Most ex-footballers would have opened a sports bar or gone into security. Not Wright. In 2011, he was arrested in Sacramento, California, for taking part in a string of home invasion robberies. This was just the start of his criminal record.Wright left DNA evidence and was in a database thanks to a previous arrest. In November 2012, Wright was convicted of 19 crimes and sentenced to 114 years to life.