Shawn has been corresponding with his sister mostly via email and video chat during her incarceration. During an MTV special in October 2012, Amber said only her mother Tanya and Dr. Drew Pinsky had come to see her. (Gary has since been to see her as well.)
“After Amber was sent to prison she had a lot to think about and a lot to change about herself,” Shawn wrote. “She had to first realize what was important to her, which was her health and most importantly, Leah. I put them in that order because if she were to remain unhealthy then Leah's importance would be non-existent.”
Shawn says Amber has been participating in the prison's drug and rehabilitation program. She is also working toward her G.E.D and has completed an anger management program
“That is the one difference that I see in her most,” he wrote. “She does not get nearly as angry as she used to. In addition, she nearly never curses, and when she does it is not that vulgar. In a letter Amber sent she said, "I make sure I laugh or smile everyday here. I feel emotions, happiness, anger, and sadness but that is still better than before when all I felt was high." These programs have helped her immensely and changed her thought process, which is something she told me needed to be changed.”
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Though Amber has grabbed more than her share of headlines in the past four years, she's not the only cast member to run afoul of the law - not by a long shot. Nearly a dozen of the girls (and in some cases their family members) have ended up in police custody.
Who can forget these gems:
DEBRA DANIELSON
Farrah's Mom Gets Abusive
January 16, 2010
Farrah’s mom, Debra, is arrested for assaulting her daughter. Police arrive at Debra's house after receiving reports of a domestic disturbance. (It was later determined that the fight between Debra and Farrah was over the childcare of Farrah's daughter, Sophia.) Deb allegedly grabbed Farrah by the throat and struck her on the side of her face and mouth. When the cops arrived, she was reportedly holding a kitchen knife in each hand.
Per the official arrest report:
“On the date of this report, the arrest, Debra Danielsen had been arguing in the home's kitchen with the victim (daughter, Farrah Abraham) over child care issues as well as other problems. The two both live together at [deleted] Willow Avenue. The victim stated that Danielson threw a MTV Tee shirt at her. The shirt landed on near the victim's infant daughter who began to cry.
The victim was yelling at Danielson over the shirt throwing and Danielson grabbed her by the throat. The victim pushed Danielson's hand away from her. Victim stated that Danielson then hit her along the right side of her head and hit her in the mouth. I observed multiple small cuts to the right side of the victim's mouth. Debra Danielsen was arrested for domestic Abuse Serious.”
Deb later took a plea deal for the incident, and the aftermath was a key plotline for the second season of Teen Mom. Months later, Debra was asked by Dr. Drew if she regretted striking her daughter. “No,” she replied. “I think that as a parent, if you love your child, you have to tell them when enough is enough on something. You're there to guide them. It doesn't mean you're overbearing as I've been called, but it means that you have to love them.”
* * * *
AUBREY WOLTERS
Banned From Walmart -- For Stealing!
May 20, 2010
Aubrey, of 16 and Pregnant season two gives her 17 month-old son a firsthand look at the criminal justice system - by bringing him along for a shoplifting spree at the Prescott, Arizona Walmart. Aubrey, 17 at the time, was with an unnamed friend when store security allegedly caught her swiping $29.66 worth of eyeliner and makeup brushes.
According to cops, her accomplice had placed the items in her purse. The newly divorced mom landed in even more hot water when police later discovered a stash of drugs - including Ritalin (used to treat ADHD) and Oxycontin in her purse. An official police report says Aubrey didn't have a prescription for either. (Shocker!) Both Aubrey and her pal were charged with shoplifting - and banned from returning to the world's largest retailer for a full year. Aubrey was also slapped with additional charges for possessing drugs without a prescription.
Authorities say she claimed the Oxycontin was her grandmother's and the Ritalin belonged to her ex-husband. Brandon Akerill did eventually produce a valid prescription but said he couldn't explain how the pills got into Aubrey's purse. He was given custody of young Austin while Aubrey got carted off to juvenile detention.
After the charges became public, Aubrey turned to her Facebook fan page to tell her side of the story. Here it is, in all its unedited glory:
“I was never charged with shoplifting (didn't steal anything girl i was with did) & also had a single pill on me which was for my mema & the charge was a yr ago & will be expunged from my record... I went to walmart with a girl I knew & right before entering told her not to steal anything because my husband worked security & walmart had camera operators plus of course I had Austin. She told me it was chill. Then walked through the store a little bit, she wandered off & we eventually met back up. When we walked out the doors i had no idea she'd stolen anything, I didn't even think it was a big deal because I hadn't stolen anything. (Never got a shoplifting charge) When the cop searched my purse i wasn't worried at all because once again I didn't know. I'm not an oxi user & i don't do heroine. If I did I certainly would have hidden it or something because I had plenty of opportunity... The felony will be removed from my record now that I'm 19 yrs. old & have paid my fines. I have a court date set in Arizona. I was ordered to write a paper on the dangers of giving someone a prescription that is not there own & the courts said to come back in a year...
The girl that gave the magazines this info… is the same girl who got me arrested. She's always hated me & thought she could make some easy money by selling this story even though it was a long time ago.”
She also had a pretty clever explanation for the drugs that cops found in her purse:
“My mema's prescription ran out. She was in pain, I'd gotten it from a friends mom who had the same prescription. I was not carrying around a bunch of drugs, I had a single pill on me & I'd gotten it 15 mins before hand & was taking it to m…y mema. I didn't even know how much trouble I could get in for having it otherwise I would have hidden it.”
According to E! News, the case was closed on June 14, 2010, when Aubrey wrapped up a court-appointed drug diversion program. In a previous run-in with the law, Aubrey had her driver's license suspended for failing to pay a speeding ticket.
* * * *
VALERIE FAIRMAN
Beats Up Her Mama
April 5, 2011
The 16 and Pregnant season two alum spent several nights as a guest at the Chester County (Pennsylvania) Youth Center after unleashing a violent assault on the woman who adopted her.
Val - who was being home schooled after disciplinary problems at her local high school - reportedly punched and pushed her mother to the ground, breaking her vertebrae. The high school junior, 17, was charged by state police and taken into custody. After being released from detention, the mother of (then) 19 month-old Nevaeh was placed under house arrest until her hearing.
* * * *
JENNIFER DEL RIO v. JOSH SMITH
Who Punched Who?
April 18, 2011
Cops in Hillsborough County, Florida are called to the home of 19-year-old Josh Smith - after he claimed to be pummeled by the hot-tempered mother of his twins! Smith - who was arrested on November 4, 2010 and ordered to complete a domestic violence program after allegedly attacking Jennifer Del Rio - says the 17 year-old mom opened up a can of whoop ass when he tried to end their relationship.
According to police reports, Jennifer became “irate” and “punched him in the face and pulled on his shirt.” He eventually pushed her away as an act of self-defense. When no arrest was made, Jennifer quickly took to her official Facebook fan page, and claimed “Josh lied to the cops... He punched himself and ripped his s
hirt... He lied under oath & that will be proved.” The way she tells it, their latest dispute began when she drove Josh home from a job interview. He requested to keep one of the children overnight and she objected.
That's when Jennifer says Josh pushed her into a fence and then disappeared inside the house - returning a few minutes later with a ripped shirt and bloody nose. She later told TMZ that Josh called the cops because it was “her turn to go to jail” - “payback,” she says, for an explosive incident months earlier when she had him arrested. In March 2011, Jennifer filed a restraining order against her long-ago love, claiming he had been “harassing and threatening” her and “saying he will have [her] raped.” Josh “has attempted to kidnap [the] children,” she claimed, adding that “due to [his] violence [she] is frightened for her life and children's life.”
* * * *
APRIL PURVIS
Whitney's Mom Caught With Crystal Meth
June 5, 2011
April Michelle Purvis - the mother of Whitney Purvis - enjoyed her own 15 minutes of fame after being popped for possession of meth and marijuana. April, 37, was pulled over by police near her home in Rome, Georgia, during a random road check.
According to the Rome News Tribune:
“The officer noted that Purvis smelled of marijuana and, after a K9 search of her vehicle, the officer found marijuana between the driver's and passenger seat of the car. Upon further inspection, suspected meth was found in the pocketbook of Purvis. Purvis is charged with felony possession of methamphetamines and misdemeanor possession of less than one ounce marijuana. Victor Lamar Clement, 48...was also arrested. He is charged with misdemeanor possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. Neither party arrested admitted to whether the pot was theirs.”
After the arrest, Whitney told TMZ: “What my mom does, does not effect me. I'm nothing like [my] parents. I do not want my son to grow up how I did.” April was featured prominently in Whitney's episode of 16 and Pregnant, as both mother and daughter were expecting at the same time.
* * * *
CLEONDRA CARTER
Cops Called After Domestic Disturbance
August 28, 2011
Cleondra (of 16 and Pregnant season three) and her normally even-tempered baby daddy, Mario Escovedo, spent the night in separate cinderblock cells after cops responded to a loud domestic disturbance at their Horn Lake, Mississippi home.
“Mario and I are still together,” Cleondra revealed in an interview just weeks before the double arrest. “It was rocky but we just had to figure out how to juggle each other and Kylee with us both working full-time jobs, but we're good now.” According to the Desoto Times Tribune, both were charged with domestic assault and released on bail (his, $1,000; hers, $500). “Mario and I did not press charges against each other,” she says. “So we just had to pay court fines. It did not go on our permanent records.”
* * * *
KIANNA RANDALL
Locked Up After Botched Robbery
August 28, 2011
Some people just aren't cut out for a life of crime! 18 year-old Kianna and her underage fiancé, Zak Hegab, both landed in the clink (along with five other knuckleheads) after a botched robbery attempt at an elderly woman's house in Texas. Apparently no one seemed to notice that the lady was home!
To make matters worse, Zak - who was just 16 at the time - was caught with a loaded 9mm in his pants. Kianna, from 16 and Pregnant season three, was charged with two counts of burglary and eventually sprung free on a $40,000 bond. She ended up getting ten years probation but returned to jail in Tarrant County, Texas on December 14, 2012 on a violation that county officials say “stemmed from the original arrest.”
Kianna was released on March 27, 2013 and immediately began posting half-naked photos of herself on Instagram along with the message “Free My Husband.” Zak is expected to be a guest of the Lone Star State Department of Corrections until 2027. In the meantime, Zak's mom has been helping out with baby Kay'den.
* * * *
WHITNEY PURVIS
Steals Pregnancy Tests From Walmart
March 1, 2012
Whitney was detained in a Georgia Walmart for applying the five finger discount to a First Response pregnancy test - and using it in the store! The 20-year-old first time offender stashed the $15.98 kit in a hooded jacket, according to police reports, then “took it to the restroom with her.” She was busted by store security and placed under citizen's arrest after trying to sneak out of a side door. "My boyfriend was with me and he had money - but I didn't want to freak him out,” she later revealed. “I was just being stupid with my decisions. I wish I would have handled the situation better."
Whitney received a free ride to the nearby police station where she was booked for misdemeanor theft and shoplifting. The pregnancy test turned up negative, which was good news for the cash-strapped single mom. “I was excited because I didn't want another kid,” she said. “I already have one.”
The results of Whitney's legal drama were also quite positive. “My charges are officially dropped!” she wrote on Facebook on March 16, 2012. “Whoop, whoop, thank you baby Jesus.” [sic]
Whitney's celebration was short-lived, however. In December 2012, she was arrested again, alongside her baby-daddy, Weston Gosa, on a charge of criminal trespassing. TMZ reported that warrants were issued for Weston and Whitney's arrests after they allegedly smashed someone's cell phone and laptop.
* * * *
DANIELLE CUNNINGHAM
Charged With Assaulting Grandmother
July 7, 2012
The girl who once dreamed of becoming an attorney ended up needing one herself, when she was arrested after getting into a physical fight with her grandmother. Four months after pleading guilty to an unrelated assault charge, Danielle, who appeared on the third season of 16 and Pregnant) offered this explanation: “My grandma isn't some frail old lady, she's only 53… She locked me and Jamie Jr. out of the house in 100-degree weather so I started freaking out, pounding on the door as I had a right to. She ended up throwing my purse in my face and saying I'll never be nothing. She pushed me into a bedroom so I pushed her out. She freaked out and called the cops. And I got to go to jail.” Danielle pled not guilty to the charge of disorderly conduct. She was released two days later and ordered to stay away from her grandmother. The charges were later downgraded and she received one year of probation for her crimes.
* * * *
FARRAH ABRAHAM
Arrested For D.U.I.
March 18, 2013
Farrah didn't exactly have the luck of the Irish when she was pulled over on her way home from a St. Patrick's Day celebration in Omaha, Nebraska. What might have been a routine celebrity D.U.I. escalated into an embarrassing public relations nightmare, as Farrah took to Twitter and the tabloids insisting she did nothing wrong.
“It's Amazing what people believe & makeup (LOVE MY LIFE) #Thank #God #I'mSuccessful & I don't care about drama! #HaveAGreatDay.” she tweeted before telling her side of the warped story to In Touch magazine: “I was out with my sister. I did not plan to drink because I was sick, so I took the role of being in charge and making sure my sister and I would return home together and safely,” she explained. “At 10 p.m., I tried to leave, and at that time, my sister was not ready to leave, so I had been sipping on drinks to pass the time.”
What Farrah failed to mention was that when she went to retrieve her car, she nearly crashed into a police cruiser! The official police report says the belligerent reality star intentionally bit the Breathalyzer device to prevent it from functioning properly and repeatedly banged her head against the window of the squad car she was placed in.
“My hands were, like, behind my back and I play soccer so I'm like, 'Well, if I can't use my hands, I have to use my head,'” she told TMZ. “I was clearly trying to get the attention of the police officer who was talking to my friend at the time…I was wondering, why are they not talking to me?”
And that .147 she blew, which was almo
st twice the legal limit?
“Because I'm sick, I could not give an accurate Breathalyzer test, due to coughing and shortage of breath,” she says. “I have a lawyer and all will work out with my ticket.”
Naturally, not many people bought Farrah's story. One person close to her told Today.com: "She can say what she wants, but the truth is that her sister Ashley and her friends were miles away by the time Farrah got arrested," said the source, who noted that several local businesses were sponsoring free cab rides home in the area. "A friend of Farrah's offered to give her a ride home before they left, but Farrah didn't take it."
Courtland Rogers - the former roofer and childhood friend who took Jenelle Evans as his bride in December 2012 - just couldn't ring in the new year without lobbing one last zinger at her trouble-prone ex. "Just leave me and my WIFE ... Mrs. Rogers alone," he tweeted to Kieffer Delp during Christmas week, implying - in a not so subtle way - that Jenelle nearly died after he introduced her to hardcore drugs.
"Wait till they see this next season on how u did jenelle and got her hooked on heroin ... she almost died cuz of u dumbass," Courtland wrote. “U got jenelle strung out and then u bailed on her when she needed u most! And everyone thinks u are the good guy! This is sad." [sic]
Kieffer is no stranger to drama - especially when Jenelle is in the mix. One of three sons born to Vickie Delp-Ham of Carney's Point, New Jersey, he essentially drifted from couch to couch before hooking up with the young mom at a party in 2010. Their sometimes toxic relationship drove a wedge between Jenelle and her mom, Barbara, after the teen troublemakers swiped her credit cards and took off for a weekend of pot-fueled hijinks during the first season on Teen Mom 2.
Teen Mom Confidential: Secrets & Scandals From MTV's Most Controversial Shows Page 11