Do you remember #prisonbae? The man who went so viral for his mugshot that he was reviewing modeling contracts while locked up, and having strangers all over the internet going crazy over him, sending him letters and going on road trips just to visit him. Well, the former gang member has since turned his life around completely, having walked down numerous designer runways, written an autobiography, and even had a baby with British billionaire heiress, Chloe Green. And now, Meeks is finally giving some insight into what it was really like being America’s sexiest man behind bars. Here’s the tea.
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In a recent interview with Matthew Cox, a former convict and host of the “Inside True Crime” podcast, Meeks discussed the attention he received after his mugshot went viral on the Stockton Police Department’s Facebook page in 2014, changing his life forever.
The model, who was arrested on weapon charges, explained that he was first informed of his fame by his friend, Ken. When Ken visited him in prison to say the mugshot had gone viral, Meeks had no clue what was going on.
“I never had Facebook or none of that shit, so I didn’t know what it meant. So he sat for 10 minutes trying to explain what was happening. It just didn’t make sense to me. I’m in the streets. I don’t understand fads and social media and Hollywood. I don’t know none of that,” he said.
It wasn’t until Meeks walked back to his section and saw his face displayed on news channels across the prison TVs that he realized just how famous he had become overnight. The reality really set in when he began receiving letters from his new admirers.
“I would say on the third day, that’s when floods and floods of letters from all over the world [arrived]. I was probably getting 300 letters a day. It was just too much. I’m getting naked pictures. I’m getting money orders. All kinds of money being sent in.”
However, being a viral sensation soon turned into a nightmare for the model. His virality meant that federal authorities caught wind of his arrest; his state weapon charges quickly became federal felony charges that landed him in a Sacramento federal prison. At the same time, Meeks had to deal with constant visits from strangers who were driving across state lines just to see him.
“I’m still a month into my mugshot going viral. This is so fresh that I’m still getting letters. I got random, random fucking people coming up to visit me,” he said. “I’m denying them before I even walk up the stairs into the (visit) section, and I’m like, I don’t know who that person is. I could see them through the glass.”
Even when Meeks denied these visits, correctional officers at the Sacramento federal prison would classify the attempted harassment as his only allowed visit for the week. All of this meant that Meeks was often unable to see his wife and his son, who was 5 at the time, because fans were taking up their slot.
Yet, fame worked in Meeks’ favor during sentencing. According to Meeks, his case was overseen by the only Black judge in California’s Eastern District at the time, Judge Troy L. Nunley, who wanted to see Meeks take the opportunities fame had given him to turn his life around.
“I just remember my judge saying, ‘Jeremy has an opportunity that no one’s ever had before. I want him to take full advantage of this.’ I’m only going to sentence him to 27 months, which was massive because I could’ve done like six years and he barely gave me two.”
While serving his sentence and speaking to fellow inmates—many of whom were serving life terms—Meeks gained perspective and decided to take his second chance seriously. Although the fame had been overwhelming at first, it was ultimately a blessing in Meeks’ eyes because it helped him change his life completely.
“I had blessing after blessing. It was like none of it we had to fight for. We [Meeks and his talent management] didn’t have to fight for anything. It was like God lined up all the right people, the right judges, the right probation,” he said. “Now, I know what God has for me, no one can take away. I know that God’s going to have me where I need to be.”
Check out the full podcast interview below:
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