Vincent Margera, the Viva La Bam cast member known as Don Vito, was arrested on August 18, 2006, in Lakewood, Colorado, after prosecutors said he groped three underage girls at a mall skatepark autograph event. He was later convicted on two of three felony counts of sexual assault on a child and sentenced to ten years to life on probation, with mandatory sex offender registration.
The Skatepark Arrest
Lakewood police took Margera into custody at the skateboard park inside the Colorado Mills mall, where he had been appearing in his Don Vito persona for a photo and autograph signing.1Denver Post. Ex-MTV Figure Held in Sex Assault Case Prosecutors said he grabbed the breasts and buttocks of two 12-year-old girls and a 14-year-old girl during the event.2Denver Post. Convicted MTV Actor: Just Kill Me Now Bail was set at $50,000 on suspicion of two counts of sexual assault on a child.3UPI. Viva La Bam’s Don Vito Arrested A third felony count followed.
Trouble While Out on Bond
Margera’s legal problems grew while he awaited trial. In August 2007 the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office filed 12 additional felony counts for violating his bail conditions, each a class 6 felony carrying a combined potential 18 months in prison.4Denver Post. MTV Actor Charged With Violating Bond Terms Those conditions had barred him from contact with anyone under 18, required abstention from drugs and alcohol, and imposed check-ins and random urinalysis.5CBS News. Don Vito Charged With Bail Violation
He had tested positive for cocaine in 2006 and entered drug treatment that December. On January 18, 2008, in Golden, Colorado, he pleaded guilty to violating his bond through cocaine possession and received two years of probation to run concurrently with any sentence in the assault case.6Denver Post. Don Vito Gets Probation for Drug Possession
The Trial
Margera’s sexual assault trial began in Jefferson County in October 2007. Prosecutor Jim Stanley told jurors Margera was “extremely intoxicated” and “out of control” at the event, and said he had urinated in his pants while around the children.7Cleveland 19. Attorney: Don Vito Accused of Fondling at Skate Park The prosecution also said he resisted arrest and insulted the female officers who detained him.
Defense attorney Pamela Mackey argued the behavior was part of the television act. “Fans came to see the crazy, outrageous, profane uncle,” she told the jury. “Fans expected to see Don Vito, not Vincent Margera.”8The Independent. Vincent Margera: Reality TV Star Turned Sex Offender Dies Aged 59 The conduct, she said, was meant to amuse, not to assault.
The Verdict
On October 31, 2007, the jury convicted Margera, then 51, on two counts of sexual assault on a child and acquitted him on the third.9Denver Post. Jury Convicts Vincent Margera on 2 Sex Counts, Acquits on 1 Count As the verdict was read, he collapsed on the courtroom floor and shouted, “Just kill me now. I can’t spend my life in prison. I didn’t do anything.” Roughly eight Jefferson County deputies restrained him and removed him from the courtroom.10Post Independent. Jury Convicts Reality TV Star on 2 Counts of Sexual Assault on a Child
The Sentence
Judge M.J. Menendez sentenced Margera on December 20, 2007.11Denver Post. Margera Must Give Up Don Vito Character for 10 Years Each count carried a possible prison term of two to six years, but the judge imposed ten years to life on probation instead.12Orange County Register. Vincent Margera of MTV’s Viva La Bam Gets Probation for Child Sex Assault Conviction The order required him to register as a sex offender in Colorado and Pennsylvania, barred him from appearing as the Don Vito character for ten years, and compelled substance abuse treatment, a mental health evaluation, and sex-offender treatment, with jail time for noncompliance.
The Appeal
Margera challenged the conviction, and the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld it in October 2010.13Victoria Advocate. Don Vito Loses Bid to Overturn Colo. Conviction
Aftermath
The case ended Margera’s entertainment career. His scenes for Jackass Number Two, released in 2006, were cut from the film after the charges became public.14Yahoo Entertainment. Vincent Margera Dies: Don Vito The ten-year ban on the Don Vito persona kept him from returning to the role that had made him famous, and he largely disappeared from public view.8The Independent. Vincent Margera: Reality TV Star Turned Sex Offender Dies Aged 59
Margera died on November 15, 2015, at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, Pennsylvania, at age 59, of liver and kidney failure.15Variety. Don Vito Dead: Jackass, Vincent Margera He had been in and out of a suburban Philadelphia hospital since the spring and slipped into a coma in October 2015.16NBC News. Jackass Star Vincent Don Vito Margera Dies at 59