5. James Brown
People remember Brown's charges in 1998 for marijuana possession. The crazy haired photos stick in the mind. But he had a much more severe charge only a decade earlier and if this had happened later then the media would have been all over it. Remember the coverage of the OJ Simpson car chase? Well we don't forget his charges, do we? On September 24, 1988, James Brown entered a seminar in Augusta, Georgia whilst armed with a shotgun and a pistol. After clearing the place, he sped off in a car with the police in pursuit. He drove into South Carolina and then back again into Georgia. Three of the tires were shot out, but he kept on driving on the rims, until he ended up in a ditch. There were some differing accounts of the arrest, with Brown saying that he felt threatened by white officers. He was sentenced to six years and six months for aggravated assault and failing to stop for a police officer. He was released three years later and kept out of trouble until the 1998 offences. His wife blamed the 1988 offences on the medication that Brown was on following jaw surgery.