Asking for leniency, saying his stage and film character carried him away, got comedian and That '70s Show actor Tommy Chong nowhere with a federal judge September 11. Chong was sentenced to nine months behind bars for conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia by catalog and on the Internet.
Chong can remain free until he receives word from federal prison officials on where to report to prison, the Associated Press said. The comedian pleaded guilty for himself and his business May 13 in the case, and apologized to his family and the court. The AP said he admitted to a former problem with marijuana that he beat when he took up salsa dancing.
The former half of Cheech and Chong had admitted his Chong Glass company sold about 7,500 bongs and pipes until a Valentine's Day raid by federal drug agents at his home and business in California, but his attorneys argued that Chong planned to use his celebrity to become a role model against drugs, according to the AP.
Assistant federal prosecutor Mary Hougton told the court Chong got rich glamorizing drug abuse and "trivializing" law enforcement in popular Cheech and Chong recordings and films of the 1970s and 1980s, not to mention using his film persona to promote his catalog and Internet business, the AP said.
One of the comedian's attorney's, Richard G. Hirsch, argued that the court should not punish Chong because of his comedy and film character. "The government," he was quoted as telling the court, "is asking you to blur the distinction between reality and satire."
Originally planning to form a music group together, Richard (Cheech) Marin and Thomas Chong instead crafted an improvisational "hard rock comedy" style, first as a club act and then on records and films in the 1970s and 1980s. "What makes us so dangerous," Chong was once quoted as saying, "is that we're really so harmless."
Hirsch also argued Chong had been punished already, the AP added. The Chong's Bongs case cost the 65-year-old comedian his recurring role on That 70's Show and a planned reunion film with former partner Marin. The duo had split up in the late 1980s.
Chong also was ordered to forfeit over $103,000, and was put on a year's probation following his release from prison, the AP said, adding his business – despite being defunct since the federal raid – was put on three years' probation, with the Internet domain being relinquished to federal authorities with "any remaining paraphernalia."
