Top 20 Athletes Who Have Done Major Jail Time

Athletes doing time in jail is not an unsual thing especially in this day and age. The athletes on this list have either done major time in jail or are doing time as we speak; some for unspeakable crimes. Here is BR's list of the top 20 athletes who have done some major jail time.

20. Jayson Williams

Jayson Williams was recently convicted of accidentally shooting and killing his limo driver. Williams use to play in the NBA for the New Jersey Nets.

19. JR Smith

JR Smith can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble when it comes to speeding. Smith was convicted of manslaughter in 2007 and was order to spend three months in jail, but was cut to 24 days if he did 500 hours of community service. Even after all of this, Smith still has been stopped again several times for speeding.

18. Marion Jones

Marion Jones was sent to prison for six months on charges of using an illegal substance while in competition. She is one of the few athletes in this country who were charge and some thought unfairly since this was her first offense.  

17. Jason Caffey

This former Chicago Bulls player had 10 kids with seven or eight different women and paid the price by going to jail for not paying child support. I don’t know who is the biggest dummy in this; Caffey or his baby mama’s.

16. Denny McClain

Denny McClain was one of the best pitchers in Major League baseball in the early 1960’s and early 70’s when he pitched for the Detroit Tigers, but his life after baseball is what made more headlines then his professional playing days. In his post-baseball days, he was imprisoned for drug trafficking (cocaine),embezzlement,and racketeering.

15. Jimmy Johns

Once a promising running back under Mike Shula at Alabama, apparently what Shula didn’t know, but the campus did was that Johns was also the campus drug man. Johns was sentence to a year in prison and should be on his way out of jail as of this date.

14. Dwight Gooden

Since his playing days ended, Gooden has found himself being in and out of trouble with the law for alcohol and drug use. After one particular stop in 2005, Gooden chose to spend time in jail rather then take probation in April 2006. He spent seven months in jail, but even after a stint in prison, Gooden still found himself in trouble. In March of this year, Gooden fled from a scene of an accident.

13. Nate Newton

Nate Newton had a promising career going in the NFL and was considered one of the best offensive lineman in the game, but it wasn’t good enough. Newton spent two and half years in prison for possession of drugs.  

12. Art Schlichter

Art Schlichter had a very bad gambling habit; a habit that would have him in and out of  jail for almost 10 years for fraud and forgery charges. Schlichter quarterbacked the Indianapolis Colts back in the 1980’s and basically lost everything he had because of his gambling habits. 

11. Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson

The original bad boy of the Dallas Cowboys was Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson. All of his bad boy behavior finally caught up with him, when Henderson was convicted of sexually assaulting and doing drugs with two teenage girls.

10. Maurice Clarett

Once considered one of the most promising running backs in Ohio State history, Maurice Clarett was a troubled young man. Clarett was charged with robbery in 2006 and then later that same year, during an illegal U-turn, Clarett was stopped again by the police and was charged with carrying a conceal weapon.

Clarett was sentenced to seven and half years in prison but made a plea bargain which allowed him to be eligible for parole in three and half years and by April 2010, Clarett was released from prison and sent to a half way house to finish his term. 

9. Sherman Williams

Sherman Williams had a promising career as a backup running back with the Dallas Cowboys, but apparently Williams wasn’t making enough money (yea right) and decided to sell drugs on the side. His “side” job cost him and now he is spending time in prison.

8. Mike Tyson

Tyson stayed in trouble back in the 1990’s. He was sent to prison on rape charges which some feel to this day were trumped up charges.

7. Lawrence Phillips

Phillips had been accused of assaulting women in the past and has always gotten away with it, but not this time.

Phillips' latest incident involving an attack on his girlfriend and him driving his car into three teens, landed him 31 years in prison; a sad end for such a talented player.

6. Allen Iverson

Back in Virginia, where Iverson played football and basketball, Allen Iverson was accused along with several others of starting a race fight in a local bowling ally which divided his hometown along racial lines because it was debated whether or not Iverson deserve to spend time in jail for the incident.

5. OJ Simpson

To the pleasure of a lot of people, OJ Simpson was sent to prison for nine years on a variety of felony charges for basically  trying to steal back his own memorabilia.

4. Mercury Morris

Morris is better known as one of the players from the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins teams, but back in 1982, Morris was sent to prison for three years for drug trafficking. Morris was supposed to serve a mandatory 15 years, but had that sentence over turned and was released in 1986

3. Plaxico Burress

In one of the strangest cases in history, Burress was sentenced to two years in prison for shooting himself and carrying a conceal weapon. A lot of people felt like Burres was made an example by the city of New York because of its tough gun laws.

2. Michael Vick

Perhaps the most controversial case in NFL history, Michael Vick spent 21 months in jail for dog fighting and was suspended from the league. At the time, Vick was one of the NFL’s biggest stars and his conviction not only surprised a lot of people, but angered them.

To this day there are those who wonder if Vick should even be allowed to play football again.

1. Rae Carruth

Rae Carruth was convicted for allegedly having his then pregnant girlfriend shot and killed. Because Carruth didn’t pull the trigger, he was not sentence to death or life in prison and will be eligible for release in 2018. Carruth’s son survived and was born with special needs.