Since its premiere in 2009, “Pawn Stars” has become one of the most successful and best-watched reality TV shows, gaining fans worldwide for the charming and entertaining stars and all the incredible historical items that enter their Las Vegas store.
While fan favorite Chumlee was one of those who took the best out of “Pawn Stars” to rise to fame, there’s always a dark side to fame that isn’t much fun to explore. In his case, his success has been partly overshadowed by the serious legal trouble he’s had in recent years, including possession of illegal substances and other not-so-great items in the eyes of authorities.
So what were all of Chumlee’s legal troubles about? Stay here to get to know them all!
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Legal issues
The beginning of Chumlee’s legal troubles date back to March 2016, when charges were filed against him. During the investigation, the local Las Vegas police raided his home and found several items such as unregistered firearms and illegal substances such as methamphetamine and large amounts of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia. Lee Russell, handed out narcotics.
This is according to a report by USA todayone of the most notable funds in the Chumlee house was the so-called ‘Chum Chum’ room, which, despite not being illegal, raised questions about its use because it contained interesting items such as a dance pole and some bills.
It was also reported that most of the illegal substances found in Chumlee’s house were in a safe on his lower floor, which he was reluctant to open on the grounds that it contained private items. He eventually opened up at police urging, revealing several ounces of marijuana that Chumlee claimed had been purchased for personal use. However, that gave police enough reason to seize Chumlee’s things and arrest him for possession of firearms and drugs, though he was soon released on $62,000 bail.
Outcome and sentence
While all the circumstances leading up to the raid on his home and subsequent arrest were serious, Chumlee somehow came out better than expected. Despite the 20 crimes he was charged with at the time of his arrest, they were unrelated to the assault charges, as the investigation into this alleged crime was still ongoing at the time.
While the gun and drug possession charges were serious enough to cause concern, Chumlee’s defense managed to mitigate the damage by negotiating a plea deal that would not send him behind bars. While details of the deal were kept under wraps, Chumlee is known to have turned in all of the items found in his home in exchange for pleading guilty to a felony drug possession charge. On the other hand, the charges of illegal possession of weapons were stayed while the sexual assault case went nowhere as no evidence against Chumlee was found in the investigation, as reported by CBS news.
As part of the deal, Chumlee was sentenced to three years of probation and counseling, a period during which he had to stay out of legal trouble for his felony charges to fall to misdemeanors such as TMZ reported at the time. In the end, Chumlee finished his probation without major problems and is now enjoying the life of a free man.
What happened to his house?
Although Chumlee did not pay jail time for his illegal activities, these problems did affect his life. Just prior to his arrest in March 2016, Chumlee had been actively working as a DJ in numerous Las Vegas nightclubs. However, as reported by TMZ at the time, his legal troubles led him to cancel his DJ gigs and become more careful about his day-to-day activities to stay out of trouble.
This also extended to his mansion in Las Vegas, which was put on the market for $1,849,900 just a year after being raided. Part of a 2-acre estate, the house had nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms, large swimming pools, a movie room, and many other luxury accommodations, but that didn’t help it sell quickly. Instead, it remained on the market for nearly two years and several price cuts, eventually selling for $1,383,700 early 2019.
That said, Chumlee’s legal troubles didn’t affect his appearances on “Pawn Stars” as the show wasn’t filming at the time he was in the middle of his drug and gun possession case.
The Candy Shop case
In addition to his job at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, Chumlee has launched a number of ventures over the years. The most famous of his businesses is Chumlee’s Candy On The Blvd, which opened in mid-2017 in the Pawn Plaza building owned by Rick Harrison.
Hey folks! @chumlee will be here in the shop today 06/03/23 at 12:00pm! Come say hello to the man himself! We can’t wait to see you!
Posted by Chumlee’s Candy on the Blvd. on Saturday, June 3, 2023
While Chumlee’s Candy offers plenty of memorabilia and nostalgic candies, the business is primarily a tourist attraction for those who want the chance to meet Chumlee on their way to Las Vegas.
However, not everything has been positive for the store, at least not in the beginning. Coincidentally, shortly before Chumlee’s store opened, a man named Patrick Keys bought the online domains chumleescandyontheblvd.com and chumleescandy.com, thinking that Chumlee would most likely buy the domains for his company at a good price.
Chumlee and his legal team had other plans, however, and in August of that year they sent a cease and desist order to have Keys transfer the rights of the sites to Chumlee. As admitted by Chumlee’s team in an interview with TMZKeys had unauthorized used the name of the store in the domain registry, thereby infringing trademark rights.
Ultimately, it’s unclear if Keys transferred the rights to the domains to Chumlee, but today none of those domains are active websites, and Chumlee’s Candy mainly promotes its business on its Facebook page.
What is Chumlee doing now?
The life of a world famous reality star is busy but somehow Chumlee has found the time to focus on many side projects while also keeping his job at the world famous gold and silver pawn shop.
In addition to his shop Chumlee’s Candy On The Blvd, he also owns the Pet Shopping TV online store, which offers its customers a long list of pet accessories, clothing and food. Moreover, Chumlee started his new snack brand Great Beef Jerkywhich would be sold in Las Vegas and in the Pawn Plaza location of his candy store starting in 2023.
In addition, Chumlee sells its original merchandise online through the website chumlee.com and also a variety of items on the marketplace whatnot.com. Also, Chumlee’s social media has proved to be a great place for him to do business as he has often seen brands, books and businesses promoted on it.
Not much is known about his personal life about Chumlee’s family or his romantic endeavours. Though he tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend Olivia Rademann in 2019, the two split soon after, but details are not well known. She is now married to poker player Jake Schindler, with whom she has a daughter in 2020.
What happened to “Pawn Stars”?
Since the premiere of “Pawn Stars” on the History Channel in 2009, the show has become one of the biggest and most successful names in reality TV. It’s that same popularity that resulted in the creation of an international franchise around the show, including its most recent spin-off – “Pawn Stars Do America”.
The series, which premiered in 2022, takes Chumlee along with Rick and Corey Harrison to different states to discover what treasures have been hidden from them. As admitted by Chumlee in an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journalby April 2023, the show’s second season was in the works, and was set to take him and his co-hosts to 15 cities across the country.
That said, this new spin-off isn’t a replacement for the original “Pawn Stars,” as the old and beloved show premiered its 21st season in late 2022.
All in all, it’s been a wild ride for Chumlee, but he’s apparently put all his troubles with the law behind him to turn his life around and achieve all the great things he’s got these days.
