LAPD The members of the "Bling Ring" in their mugshots.
The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist tells the story of a group of teenagers who wanted celebrity status so badly, they stole it. The Netflix documentary focuses on two of its members: Alexis Neiers and Nick Prugo. Each of the real members of the Bling Ring faced different sentences, but nearly all of them spent some time in jail or prison.
The Bling Ring was a group of teens and young adults who burglarized celebrities in Los Angeles between 2008 and 2009, stealing roughly $3 million in cash and belongings from Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox and others. Neiers downplayed her role on the new Netflix documentary, “The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist.” Read more about her now here.
The three-part, limited series was released on Netflix September 21, 2022.
Here’s what you need to know:
Rachel Lee Received the Harshest Sentence of 4 Years & Spent 16 Months in Prison
Nick Prugo, Rachel Lee, Alexis Neiers, Diana Tamayo, and Courtney Ames became known as the Bling Ring, a nickname packed with all the flavours of a tabloid saga.
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Rachel Lee faced the harshest sentence among the members of The Bling Ring, and was accused of being the mastermind between the Heist, the documentary says. She pleaded no contest to her charges and was sentenced to four years in prison, but she served one year and four months behind bars.
Vulture reported that after she committed the crimes, she moved to Las Vegas with her father before the authorities caught up to her. The outlet reported she was obsessed with “the Lindsay Lohan, reality-TV kind” of celebrities, which “led her to want to experience first-hand the big-money lifestyle she read about in the pages of US Weekly.”
“Named ‘Best Dressed’ in her 2007 yearbook and driving a white Audi A4 to school, Lee had already been fined and put on probation for shoplifting at a Sephora with fellow Bling Ring member Diana Tamayo,” Vulture reported.
Neiers Was Jailed in a Cell Next to Lindsay Lohan
Neiers was arrested in 2010 and entered a no contest plea to residential burglary, according to the show. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but she was released after spending only 30 days behind bars. She was also given three years’ probation and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution to Bloom.
Her jail sentence got her closer to Lindsay Lohan than she had ever been before.
“Ironically, in the last week of her sentence, Lindsay Lohan was in the cell directly next door while she was serving a brief sentence. They did not speak while serving time together,” Celebrity Net Worth reported.
Many of the Bling Ring Members Entered No Contest Pleas & Several Were Sentenced to Probation
First they robbed Paris Hilton. Then their lives were turned into a movie starring Emma Watson. Now Alexis Neiers and Nick Prugo are telling their side of the story.
The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist — a three-part docuseries — premieres September 21.
Nick Prugo said on the Netflix documentary that he thought having Ray Lopez Jr. burglarize Paris Hilton’s home would mean he could not be tied to the crime. But that changed when he was captured on widely circulated surveillance footage, and told the police about other burglaries they had no knowledge about. Prugo pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree residential burglary. He was sentenced to two years in jail and served one year.
Lopez was among those who was sentenced only to probation. He pleaded no contest to receiving stolen property and was sentenced to three years of probation, the documentary said.
Courtney Ames pleaded no contest to possessing a jacket stolen from Paris Hilton, according to Vulture. She was sentenced to three years of probation and 60 days of community service. Her boyfriend, Jonathan Ajar, a.k.a. “Jonnie Dangerous,” was tasked with selling the stolen goods, Vulture reported. He already had a criminal record and had spent time in jail, the outlet said. He entered a no contest plea and served three years in jail, Vulture reported.
Diana Tamayo was an undocumented immigrant, and she was threatened with deportation if she did not comply with police, according to Vulture. She pleaded no contest to burglary and was sentenced to 60 days of community service and three years of probation.
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