Bam Margera will be released from prison and attend rehab, judge orders
The 44-year-old former reality star spent a week in jail following a DUI arrest that violated the conditions of his probation.
Former Jackass star Bam Margera will be released from prison and admitted to a short-term rehabilitation facility.
A judge’s decision Wednesday to release Margera from Chester County Prison came after the 44-year-old spent a week in jail for violating his probation agreement, which stems from more than a year of legal troubles for the former reality star.
Pennsylvania State Police charged Margera in Fulton County on Sept. 16 with misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving; two days later, Chester County authorities placed him in custody for violating his probation’s drug and alcohol condition.
Following the ruling from Chester County Court Judge Patrick Carmody, sheriff’s deputies led Margera from the courtroom. According to his defense team, Margera was expected to be released from prison Wednesday and admitted to an inpatient facility in the West Chester area.
The stay at the rehabilitation facility is expected to last 28 days unless recovery experts decide otherwise.
“The bottom line here is everybody from the prosecutor to the probation officer, the judge to the defense team, realizes he needs treatment — not punishment,” said William J. Brennan, an attorney for Margera, after the brief hearing. “That’s what’s going to happen.”
Margera’s attorneys said that the former reality star’s renewed focus on his artistic career and his recent marriage to Danielle Marie have kept him largely on a path to sobriety, and that this “one hiccup” didn’t define him.
“The hardest problem for Bam being in jail was that he wasn’t with his new wife, he wasn’t with the people he loves,” said Michael T. van der Veen, another attorney on Margera’s defense team. “He wants to get back doing the things he loves.”
Margera faces no pending criminal charges in either Chester County or Fulton County, according to Brennan.
His attorneys said his initial probation — a six-month period of drug testing Carmody ordered earlier this year — will continue for the next three months.
In April 2023, the former reality star made headlines after he was accused of assaulting his brother and making terroristic threats toward other relatives at the Pocopson home known as “Castle Bam.”
That summer, Margera was cited for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness at the Main Line’s Radnor Hotel; those charges were later dropped.
In June, Margera pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct in his Chester County case.