Inside 'world's hottest felon' Jeremy Meeks' life 12 years after viral mugshot
Most people would be mortified to have their mugshot shared on social media, but it actually worked out in Jeremy Meeks' favor.
In 2014, Stockton Police Department posted a photo of Meeks' mugshot to Facebook.
The Washington-native was arrested on June 18 that year on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In February 2015 he went on to be sentenced to 27 months imprisonment.
The judge also ordered that Meeks participated in the 500-Hour Bureau of Prisons Substance Abuse Treatment Program, CBS News reported at the time.
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Prior to his 2014 arrest, Meeks had served a nine-year sentence for grand theft from a person. He served his sentence between 2002 to 2011.
After police shared his 2014 mugshot, the criminal quickly went viral as people online swooned over the now 42-year-old.
Because of this, Meeks landed himself a modelling contract when he was released in March 2016.
Shortly after his release, Meeks shared a statement on Instagram that read: "I want to thank my family and everybody for all your love, support and prayers. I'm overwhelmed and grateful for what lies ahead. I'm ready."
And he didn't just pursue modelling, Meeks is now a fashion designer and actor as well, says PEOPLE. Reportedly Meeks landed a whopping $15 million deal with Fashion Concept GmbH to develop a clothing line in 2019.
The dad-of-two then launched his second collection for Canon Mitchell in January 2024.
In terms of his movie credits, Meeks has starred in the likes of Secret Society (2021), Dance for Me (2023), Love After Holidays (2024) and Beach Chain (2024).
He's even had his own autobiography published.
Speaking to PEOPLE ahead of its release, Meeks shared: "I'm in a place in my life where I am extremely vulnerable and want to tell my story, the whole story, and hope that people can connect to it and understand how I came to be in the place that I'm at in my life."
There have been lows that have come with his fame however, and Meeks had previously battled drug addictions.
Discussing this, he said on the Inside True Crime Podcast earlier this year: "The mother of my second child was struggling with me struggling. She took a video of me sleeping, my breathing was very delayed and my lips were turning blue and I was pretty much overdosing in my sleep."
Meeks shares his youngest child with ex girlfriend Chloe Green, the daughter of billionaire Philip Green.
"She was four months pregnant," he continued. "So she's like, 'Dude, if something happens, like there's nothing I can do', and so luckily she made a phone call and got some help and got a doctor in there and it was very expensive, but they got me the treatment that I needed."
He's since spent thousand of dollars to maintain his sobriety.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.
Niamh Shackleton