Former “Jackass” star Bam Margera pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct on Wednesday, June 26. As a result, he was sentenced to six months on probation.
Margera, 44, was charged with assaulting his brother, Jess, and threatening other family members during a two-week visit to their Chester County, Pennsylvania home in July 2023.
Alongside the probation, Margera will undergo random drug testing. If he tests positive for drugs, he could face jail time.
Before this court decision, Margera and his brother had appeared in a court hearing the previous year, during which Margera informed the judge that he was receiving treatment for drug and alcohol issues.
Jess described his brother as “a good dude when he’s not messed up,” and recounted troubling behavior from Bam over the past 20 years.
He also noted that Bam had stayed awake for days while at the Pennsylvania home, which resulted in Jess suffering a ruptured eardrum from the incident. Following the altercation, Bam was briefly on the run before turning himself in.
Margera has a history of struggles with mental health and substance abuse and is approaching one year of sobriety on August 1.
After the court adjourned on Wednesday, Bam expressed to ABC 6, “I needed that to realize I would go on drinking benders and I would end up in situations that were really not good.”
He added, “Now that I’ve done this amount of time, I don’t want to go back to that lifestyle.”
His and Jess’ mother, April, attended the hearing. She shared with ABC 6, “He’s doing really well and we want him to keep going and get this behind him, really.
But we all love him and we just want him to do great. He’s been through a lot in his life, he’s had a lot of access and he’s had a lot of power, and it’s hard to come down from that.”
Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe explained that the plea deal Margera received is a common outcome.
He stated, “We want to make sure Bam can get the help that he needs. We want to see Mr. Margera have accountability on the back end so that he can achieve sobriety and be accountable to his family and his community.”
Margera’s attorney, Michael T. van der Veen, told, “This is basically a noise violation,” adding that “He really got nothing more than a traffic ticket.”
