From Prison to Paid: Celebrities Who Did Time Before Their Shine!

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5. Tim Allen

Yes, long before he was the Tool Man, Tim Allen was a coke dealer. On October 2,1978, Tim Allen package was arrested in Detroit for possession of a pound and a half of cocaine. Under Michigan law, he could have been sentenced to life in prison. Instead he turned state’s evidence, the legal term for ratting on your cohorts. Allen reportedly ratted out at least 21 co-conspirators, and in exchange, he was sentenced to just five years under the more lenient, at that time, federal law. He was paroled after 2½ years, and after dropping his last name, package, he was able to shake his past and start fresh.  Allen eventually fought his way to fame by first staring in comedy acts in 1975, and eventually landing on the TV with the television series Home Improvement (1991–1999) on ABC, playing Tim “The Tool-Man” Taylor.

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