Antonella Maria Barba, a former American Idol contestant, has received a 45-month prison sentence on fentanyl-related charges.
According to CNN's Friday-published report, Barba—who pleaded guilty back in July—has been sentenced to 45 months for possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
The 32-year-old New Jersey resident was in a parked vehicle in Norfolk, Virginia in October 2018 when she was approached by law enforcement officials, at which point a dog handler screened the vehicle with a drug dog, ultimately discovering a shoebox "in plain view on the front passenger floorboard" containing what was eventually determined to be 830.9 grams of the Schedule II controlled substance.
Barba competed in the sixth season of American Idol, which ran in 2007 and was ultimately won by Jordin Sparks. When requesting a reduced sentence, perNBC News, Barba's legal team argued that she "led a life more typically characterized by her good works, her humility, and her devotion to her family and her faith" before her American Idol appearance.
The ensuing attention brought about by the show, the lawyers further argued, is "where it all went wrong."
"The most probable reason that Ms. Barba finds herself before this Court is that her inability to come to terms with her lack of success in the entertainment industry exacerbated her then undiagnosed mental illness," lawyers said.
