Sopranos Stars Get Busted

It's rare for an actor to be the same as the character they play on TV. Locke from Lost probably isn't a wild-eyed knife-wielding biblical maniac in real life, and Eva Longoria isn't really a dappy moron…

OK, so maybe our theory is a bit flawed. And just to compound our basic lack of TV/actor theory authority, a couple of actors from The Sopranos have been charged in separate criminal cases. Which is kind of like The Sopranos. A bit. We suppose.

Fans of suburban Mafia serials starring fat blokes and a girl who tried to be a popstar once are understandably upset - The Sopranos is slowly bada-binging its way to an end. But they needn't worry, because some Sopranos actors seem to be carrying the whole minor crime thing on in their day-to-day lives.

Not any of the major actors, mind you. James Gandolfini wasn't caught gymnasticing over laser senors while trying to pull off an audacious fine art robbery, nor was Jamie-Lynn Sigler found kicking a tramp to death outside a boozer at three in the morning. In fact, the Sopranos actors charged with naughtiness were fringe members of the cast at best.

Police officers spotted John Ventimiglia - Sopranos chef Artie Bucco - weaving in and out of traffic on Monday, and he was arraigned on drunken driving, drug possession and other charges. According to Forbes:

A criminal complaint alleges that when police
pulled him over, the actor had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and
smelled of booze. His blood-alcohol content was 0.12 - the legal limit
is 0.08 - and he was carrying a zip-lock bag with cocaine residue, the
complaint said. Ventimiglia, 42, was released without bail.

According to his lawyer, Ventimiglia feels "feels terrible and embarrassed," about the incident. Meanwhile, fellow Sopranos bit-parter Louis Gross - Sopranos bodyguard Perry Annunziata - was charged with criminal mischief after a woman claimed that he broke into her house last month. And Gross told his side of the story to reporters in just about the most fabulous way we've ever heard:

"I don't know nothing. I'm innocent. I'm always innocent."

John Ventimiglia and Louis Gross are the latest two members of the Sopranos cast to get in trouble with the law, after the kid who plays Tony Soprano's son pleaded guilty to mugging some boys and another TV mobster, Lillo Brancato, pleaded not guilty to killing a police officer. Whoever next? Our money's on that psychiatrist woman. She got shifty-ass eyes.

Read more:

2 more Sopranos run afoul of the law - Forbes

[story by Stuart Heritage]