For most people who end up spending some time behind bars, their mugshots aren't their most
flattering photos of all time.
They're usually unhappy, unkempt, and completely uninterested in memorializing this moment
of their lives for all the world to see on the police blotters.
But every now and again, a suspect will line up for their "perp walk" photos and take the
internet by storm with what results from their snap session.
One such is Mirella Ponce, a heavily tattooed Fresno, California gang member, who was arrested
in October 2017 for driving with and concealing a stolen gun while her baby was in the car
with her.
She might not be up for any mother of the year awards after that, but when the police
station that took her mugshot posted it to Facebook, the internet chose to focus on one
thing: her looks.
Her pic garnered hundreds of shares, almost 2,000 likes, and comments like:
"The only crime she committed was stealing my heart."
"How much Is her bail lol asking for a friend."
"Can we just take a min and admire her brows tho #onfleek."
..And …
"If she held me at gun point I wouldn't mind."
Of course, whoever wrote that probably really would mind, considering the gun was fully
loaded.
All this attention did not escape Ponce's attention.
After pleading guilty, she was released and will receive probation, and she now wants
to capitalize on the attention and become a model.
She's taken some pics for a local semi-professional photographer, and reportedly has a couple
paid modeling gigs lined up.
One is with a tattoo studio, and why not?
She's already half-made of ink anyway.
She's just the latest of many unexpectedly attractive or unusual mugshot subjects who've
taken the world by storm, so let's take a look at some other major mugshots that went
viral.
Jeremy Meeks
When people think of handsome criminals, Jeremy Meeks likely comes to mind first.
He's the sad-eyed guy with the pouty lips and chiseled jaw who won over countless people
after his 2014 arrest for getting caught with a firearm, despite being a convicted felon.
He was also charged with being in a gang.
But after police posted his mugshot to Facebook, the internet completely exploded with nothing
but love for the documented Crips member and dubbed him the "hot felon."
Although Meeks was sentenced to 27 months in prison, and served half that time, his
fame was still enough to earn him a modeling contract while he was still in the pen.
After his release, he made his runway debut at New York's Fashion Week and now travels
the globe for his new career.
Mekhi Alante Lucky
In April 2016, Mekhi Alante Lucky found himself arrested for motor vehicle larceny and eluding
arrest.
But then, he lived up to his last name, as his mugshot became a sensation because of
his unique eyes.
Due to a disorder called heterochromia, his eyes are two different colors — one a piercing
blue, the other a soulful brown.
Add that to his almost-seductive staring into the police camera, and this face was practically
begging to be discovered.
After Lucky's mugshot started making the rounds, earning him the nickname "Prison Bae," it
caught the attention of a modeling agent who reached out to him on Instagram and signed
him to start a new career wearing clothes that wouldn't always be orange.
He was quickly booked to walk the runway for New York's Fashion Week in 2017 and seems
poised to become the next big thing in prison-to-Prada history.
Morgan Joyce Varn
A lot of suspects have visible ink in their booking pictures, but Morgan Joyce Varn took
it to a whole other level.
When she did her stint in the slammer, she became notorious for creeping everyone out
with her blacked out eyes.
In April 2017, Varn was arrested in South Carolina and charged with kidnapping, armed
robbery, and property damage.
But it wasn't her crime that caught the world's attention so much as her unusual appearance.
Some people have questioned whether or not Varn actually tattooed her eye whites totally
black, but apparently, corneal tattooing is a legitimate trend for some very brave eyeball
enthusiasts.
Justin Lamar Richardson
Even arrestees get hungry at inconvenient times.
In September 2017, Justin Lamar Richardson was arrested in North Carolina for violating
his probation several times over and told the officers he was hungry.
Deputies then provided him with a basic bologna sandwich, which Richardson took with him to
his close-up session.
The police department eventually realized the sandwich pic wasn't exactly the most professional
look, so they made Richardson take a more serious shot, but that didn't stop the internet
from eating the picture up.
Meagan Simmons
Being arrested for DUI is usually not a person's finest moment, but Meagan Simmons managed
to catch the world's attention with her ultra-flattering mugshot from an otherwise awful night.
In July 2010, Simmons was busted for driving under the influence and managed to pull herself
together enough to take a pretty picture during the booking process.
"It was eight hours, in and out, but it was terrible.
I would never want to go through that again."
She soon became the subject of several clever memes and eventually had to sue a company
who was selling the image on their products.
But she herself wasn't opposed to the idea of capitalizing on her viral fame and even
considered posing for Play boy.
Luciano Gutierrez
If there was such a thing as a "Truth in Advertising" award, then Luciano Gutierrez would be a shoo-in.
This suspect's shot went viral in 2015 after he wore a shirt in his arrest pic that said
more than his face ever could.
The Texas man was arrested for DUI, which is something he was quite experienced with.
This was reportedly his ninth arrest for drunk driving, so it was quite appropriate that
he was booked while wearing a T-shirt that said, "Warning: I do dumb things."
"No s--- Sherlock."
Sarah Seawright
Another entry into the Mugshot Hall of Fame is Sarah Seawright, whose attractive booking
pic went viral in 2016.
Seawright had been arrested for no-showing a court appearance that was related to a previous
arrest.
And soon after, the internet responded with heart emojis galore.
Her rap sheet included everything from robbery to kidnapping to tampering with evidence,
but online, her hotness trumped any bad behavior.
Sean Kory
As successful as Jeremy Meeks was going from felon to model, he may have competition now.
Sean Kory, according to the internet, is the new Mugshot Hotness.
In 2014, Kory was arrested for assault, after attacking someone going as a Fox News reporter
for Halloween.
Kory apparently hated the news network, but political bias or not, he captured the attention
of a very adoring public soon after his mugshot went viral.
Luckily for Meeks, though, Kory hasn't done much since becoming an internet sensation
a few years back.
Instead of earning a modeling contract like his predecessor, Kory has largely disappeared
from the public's attention.
Sarah Furay
Even the "beautiful" mugshots that go viral don't normally feature the suspect smiling.
They are, after all, going to jail.
Sarah Furay [furr-AYE?] apparently felt differently, grinning ear-to-ear for her mugshot after
her November 2015 arrest for possession of a bevy of drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine,
marijuana, and more.
Her happiness quickly went viral, as sites started dubbing her the "world's cutest drug
kingpin," albeit one who was facing a maximum of 215 years in prison.
But not everyone was amused by the attention.
Black Lives Matter champion Deray McKesson and others pointed out the societal consequences
of downplaying her charges, and some sites even had to walk back on their chummy assessments
of her situation.
All the same, Furay's smile [probably] subsided after she was indicted [in-DYE-ted] on four
counts for the crime, despite the fact that her own father was an agent for the Drug Enforcement
Agency, which prompted many false rumors of her being let off the hook without any punishment.
Angela Green
It takes a certain kind of confidence to get sassy with the police officials who are taking
your mugshot, but Angela Green has more than enough of it.
Green was allegedly staying at an Ohio motel, and refused to leave at her scheduled checkout
time.
Cops were summoned, and she was told she would need to leave or pay for another night.
When she refused to do either, they arrested her.
But when it came time to do her mugshot, Green wasn't done being unwieldy as she puckered
up and gave the camera an epic duckface.
Not just any duckface either — hers is one of the most exaggerated, over-the-top duckfaces
that even the Kardashians couldn't compete with.
"That's actually -- I'm not even mad.
That's amazing."
Once the Police Department uploaded her pic to their Facebook, her pic began to make the
rounds.
And while no modeling contract came out of this one, she also got away with very little
punishment.
Lucas William Vincent
At this point, cops have to know if they put a weird mugshot online, they're all but inviting
the internet to viralize it.
How else to explain Lucas William Vincent, whose mugshot invited more ear jokes than
a roast of Van Gogh?
In May 2017, the New Zealander was set to show up to court on an assault charge, but
he didn't.
So, the local police shared his mugshot, which shows his left ear looking significantly un-whole,
like someone took scissors to it.
The internet, as you might expect, went crazy, with comments like:
"He's going to cop an ear full when his mother finds out about this."
"This is what happens when you live life earresponsibly."
… And...
"Does he have any distinguishing features we should watch for?"
Alysa Bathrick
As we've seen, some people just seem to take a good mugshot.
But rare is the suspect who comes right out and says it like Alysa Bathrick did.
Bathrick was arrested in November 2014 on charges of attempting to distribute Xanax.
Her mugshot might not have gone anywhere, except that Bathrick herself took to Twitter
to talk about it.
She posted her booking sheet, along with her pic, with the following commentary: "Surrendered
myself at 7 am, got released at 11:30 am.
F--- what you heard.
And my mugshot's cute."
Surprisingly enough, people definitely agreed and commented with lines like, "you got arrested
for stealing my heart."
Just a few months later, Bathrick was arrested again, this time for shoplifting.
She didn't flaunt her cute mugshot the second time around, and looking at it, you can see
why.
She still looks roughly the same, but with just enough resignation in her eyes to suggest
she's over being the "Cute Mugshot Girl" and would much rather be the "Not Behind Bars
Anymore" girl instead.
Fidel Gonzalez Gutierrez
Last but not least, we know of at least one guy who's earned himself a spot on Santa's
naughty list this year.
In March, Florida resident Fidel Gonzalez Gutierrez was taken into custody over several
outstanding warrants related to cocaine dealing.
And thanks to his very North Pole-esque looking photo, he inadvertently gifted the world with
a flurry of snow-related jokes.
"I think I can guarantee a white Christmas."
All that's missing are some helper elves and one red-nosed reindeer, but maybe he left
them home at the North Pole.
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