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'American Idol' Alum Antonella Barba Arrested And Charged For Dealing Heroin
Antonella Barba, a former competitor on "American Idol," was arrested and charged for dealing heroin. She potentially faces up to 40 years in jail if found guilty of the crime.
A former — and controversial — contestant on the reality competition series "American Idol" has been arrested and charged with dealing heroin in Virginia.
Antonella Barba, 31, who competed on the show's sixth season in 2007, was arrested on October 11, according to USA Today. Barba was officially charged with heroin distribution of more than 100 grams in Virginia, according to the Norfolk Sheriff's Office. She potentially faces between five and 40 years in jail if found guilty of the crime, according to Virginia's Legislative Information System website.
Barba had made it to the top 16 on her season of "American Idol" before being eliminated. She had become a contentious figure on the show when controversial photos of her were discovered and shared on the internet, including some pictures of her in a wet T-shirt near the World War II Memorial in Washington, which sparked outrage at the time, according to USA Today.
“The pictures that were released of me - the ones that are of me - they are very personal and that is not how I intended to portray myself nor do I intend to portray myself that way in the future," she said at the time, AOL reported.
This is not her first brush with the law. Barba had also been arrested in 2011 for allegedly shoplifting from an Urban Outfitters in Manhattan.
She later appeared on the reality show "Fear Factor" in 2012 and in a Jimmy Kimmel parody of "We Are The World" in 2018.
Barba is scheduled to appear before a court on October 15, according to PEOPLE. She is being held without bond, reports AOL.
Police have not offered any further details on the arrest.
[Photo: Norfolk Sheriff's Office]
