American Idol Contestant Pleads Not Guilty
December 7, 2007

Forget about the new season of American Idol, the justice system isn't done with the old ones. This week, Jessica Sierra, a top ten finalist from the 2005 season of the mega-hit Fox show pleaded not guilty to charges that came from a drunken confrontation that the singer allegedly got into with police at a Tampa nightclub last weekend. You may have seen Jessica Sierra's mug shot before. This isn't the first time she's been in trouble, but this time could be the most serious.

According to E!, Jessica Sierra, who is 22, was arrested early on December 1st and charged with disorderly intoxication. That means she was real drunk. Drunk enough to also get charged with resisting arrest and, here's the killer in the eyes of the legal system, violating the conditions of her parole on felony battery and drug possession charges from an earlier case. Jessica Sierra is currently being held without bail and will be behind bars until at least December 20th, when her next hearing is scheduled. John Fitzgibbons, the attorney for Sierra, told E! on Thursday that he's working on a comprehensive drug and alcohol treatment program for the American Idol singer. That might be a good idea.

This arrest for Jessica Sierra comes just two weeks after she was in a court pleading no contest to charges from a bathroom altercation in April. In that case, Sierra is accused of hitting a man with a glass in a bar fight and when she was taken into custody, police found a small amount of cocaine on her. Two weeks ago, Jessica Sierra was sentenced to 12 months' probation and random drug screening. The new charges could be far more serious because of the probation.

It gets worse for Sierra. TMZ is also reporting this morning that a major porn company has a sex tape of the American Idol star and is preparing to distribute it. The video was supposedly shot sometime this year and will be released before the end of this year to capitalize on building buzz for American Idol's debut in January. In one final ironic twist, Jessica Sierra went through rehab in July and that treatment was supposed to be the focus of an episode of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew on VH1. Considering the rehab doesn't seem to have worked, we'll see if VH1 still airs the show.