Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
‘American Idol’ Alum Antonella Barba Facing Federal Drug Charges After Allegedly Trying To Deliver Fentanyl
Authorities believe that Antonella Barba, who made it into the top 16 on “American Idol” in 2007, was part of a drug ring.
“American Idol” alum Antonella Barba was taken into federal custody on Monday and is facing federal drug charges after police busted her for allegedly trying to deliver narcotics last year.
The 32-year-old singer, who made it to the top 16 during the sixth season of “American Idol” in 2007, has been charged with one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of conspiracy, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk on Thursday and obtained by Ashbury Park Press. Her detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday, according to the outlet.
The newly unsealed indictment states that Barba was first arrested in Norfolk, Virginia in October for allegedly trying to deliver almost two pounds of fentanyl to a co-conspirator, The Virginian-Pilot reports. Authorities believe that the New Jersey native was a member of a drug ring that also dealt cocaine and heroin, the indictment states.
Authorities believe that another man who has been charged in connection to the alleged drug ring, Justin Michael Isaac, instructed Barba to deliver the drugs in Norfolk on Oct. 11, the day she was arrested, Ashbury Park Press reports.
Police arrested Barba at around 11:30 a.m. in downtown Norfolk and charged her with one count of possession of more than 100 grams of heroin with intent to distribute it, per Ashbury Park Press' report. She was released Oct. 27 on $50,000 secured bond, but was taken back into custody on Monday. The original charge, which may have seen her serving between four and 40 years behind bars, has since been dropped, but she now faces at least one life sentence if convicted on federal charges, according to Ashbury Park Press.
An attorney speaking for Barba told Ashbury Park Press that Barba did not know the drugs were in the car she’d rented. The singer previously denied the initial claims against her via her lawyer, Eric Korslund, who claimed shortly after her October arrest that Barba was in Norfolk while waiting to catch a flight to a recording session in Miami, Florida, and did not know that there were drugs in her car.
Barba also has a pending felony marijuana case in Kansas, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
In addition to her “American Idol” run, Barba appeared on the competition reality show “Fear Factor” in 2012.
