Tim Allen avoided life sentence in prison for drug trafficking by naming his partners
Joe Harker
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Long before he became a famous actor Tim Allen was staring at the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
In 1978 just a few short years after he started working in showbiz as a comedian, Allen ended up getting busted at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport, Michigan.
He'd been carrying 650g of cocaine with him and had been expecting to pass it off to a contact there.
According to the book Tim Allen (Overcoming Adversity), undercover cop Michael Pifer had been on Allen's tail for months and arranged a deal to swap the cocaine for cash.
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Allen suggested the airport after being inspired by a scene on TV, and stashed the bag of drugs in a locker before meeting Pfier and handing him the keys.
Having expected to be getting $42,000 in return, he instead found himself surrounded by armed police with their weapons trained on him.
Michigan had only recently passed a law which meant that someone with 650g of cocaine would face life in prison, so Allen was looking at the prospect of living out the remainder of his days behind bars.
As a result he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and named names when it came to his partners in crime.
This got his expected sentence reduced and meant his case would be heard in a federal court instead of a state one where he might be facing life imprisonment.
In the end he was sentenced to spend three to seven years in prison but was released after two years and four months, becoming a free man again in 1981.
Reflecting on his conviction, Allen said: "I was an F up. After my old man died, I really just played games with people and told adults what they wanted to hear and then stole their booze.
"I had so much shame at the things that I did… especially driving people around. Coming from a dad that was killed that way, it’s difficult to get past it.”
Speaking on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast he added that the time between being charged and being sentenced forced him to evaluate his life.
The Toy Story star also spoke about the time he spent in prison.
He said: “I just shut up and did what I was told. It was the first time ever I did what I was told and played the game.
“I learned literally how to live day by day. And I learned how to shut up. You definitely want to learn about how to shut up.
“Eventually after eight months, I got used to it. There were ok times. Saturday we got better food. Eventually I went from a holding cell arrangement to my own cell.”