'American Idol' Star Antonella Barba Arrested on Drug Warrant, Thrown Back In Prison
By Ryan Naumann on September 16, 2019 at 7:25 AM EDT
The Blast
“American Idol” star Antonella Barba has been arrested on a drug warrant and thrown back into prison.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Barba showed up to court on Friday, as part of her federal criminal case. A warrant had been issued for her arrest. The docs note she “self-surrenders to being serving potential sentence.”
Barba was immediately taken into custody by the United States Marshall, to begin serving her sentence.
The reality star decided to start prison time now. She will be back in court on November 21 to be find out her official sentence.
The warrant was issued after Barba’s probation officer rushed to court last week. He accused the reality star of violating the terms of her release. The P.O. accused her of not living with her father, which was ordered by the judge.
Last month, Barba plead guilty to a charge relating to possessing and distributing fentanyl. The reality star reached a plea deal with prosecutors. She is facing 10 years in prison.
Barba faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life in prison, a fine of $10,000,000, a possible forfeiture of assets, and five years of supervised police. She was allowed to be out on bond awaiting sentencing, as long as she obeyed the court order.
Barba was allegedly one of several members of a drug conspiracy that was active in Hampton Roads, Virginia from late 2017 through the fall of 2018.
According to the indictment, Barba was attempting to deliver approximately 830.8 grams of fentanyl on the day of her arrest. She also had an additional 400 grams of a "mixture or substance" containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.
Barba was bailed out of jail by her father and has been under home detention with electronic monitoring ever since.
Antonella Barba appeared on the sixth season of “American Idol” and made it into the Top 16 (Jordin Sparks eventually took home the crown). During her run on the show, racy photos of her appeared online, including wet T-shirt pics of her posing in the fountain of the National World War II Memorial.
She was also charged in 2010 with shoplifting after she allegedly walked off with less than $20 worth of goods from an Urban Outfitters in New York City.
