Road Ruler Pleads Guilty

There's more than one way for reality television stars to extend their 15 minutes.

Sure, they can move to Los Angeles and try their luck on the casting couch. But as increasing numbers of them seem to have figured out, simply breaking the law might keep them in the limelight longer.

Such is the course taken by former Road Ruler Donnell Langham who pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Erin Soper. Langham, 21, was sentenced to a year of probation, ordered to enter a batterer's program and told to keep his distance from 18-year-old Soper.

Langham was arrested last week in Massachusetts for outstanding warrants stemming in part from his failure to show up in court for a hearing scheduled last month.

The assault in question took place in July 2002, when Langham allegedly pummeled Soper, then dragged her several feet down a road, causing "significant bruising," according to the police report. Soper was granted a protection order against Langham as a result.

Though the battery in question took place prior to Langham's starring turn in MTV's Road Rules: South Pacific, the network was willing to overlook the portly participant's rap sheet.

According to an MTV spokesman's statement, Langham's history of domestic abuse didn't really phase Road Rules producers Mary-Ellen Bunim and Jon Murray.

"Our utmost concern is always the safety of our castmembers. During casting, our producers ask all potential castmembers to be honest with them about their past, and they then judge based on that information as well as other information they gather whether they are comfortable with each castmember on the show.

"Bunim-Murray feels that Donnell was frank with them about what he described as a 'volatile but loving' relationship. BMP interviewed Soper extensively and she expressed no concerns about him going on the show. Throughout production, BMP had no issues with Donnell," concluded the statement.

That's all fine and dandy for BMP, but immediately following his April 2003 return from the South Pacific, Langham apparently resumed the volatile side of his relationship with Soper, minus the loving.

The heavyweight was arrested for violating the 2002 protection order against him and allegedly assaulting Soper yet again after an argument, grabbing her by the throat and leaving red marks that were still visible when cops arrived, according to the police report.

Earlier this month, Soper told police that Langham threatened her and tried to intimidate her into not testifying against him. Not that the bulging bruiser was ever too worried about the outcome of his case.

"I won't do jail time on these [charges]," he told the Smoking Gun in a June 2003 interview. "Community service and counseling is offered, but I'm not guilty so I won't take a deal."

Langham is by no means the first of MTV's reality flunkies to have a run-in with Johnny Law.

Most recently, Robin Hibbard, a cast member of the upcoming Real World: San Diego was arrested in a bar in September for assaulting a Marine.

In August, Adam King of Real World: Paris was nabbed for drunk and disorderly conduct in Statesboro, Georgia while visiting fellow cast member, Ace. King reportedly tried to flag down a police car thinking it was a cab, reminding us all once again that MTV does not discriminate against stupid people.

Continuing on that note, Real World: Las Vegas cast member Alton Williams took a ride in the paddy wagon back in February after swinging at a bar manager during a charity event in North Carolina.

Real World: Seattle's Stephen Williams found himself in double trouble after he stole a Toyota Camry last March--cops discovered he had skipped out on an earlier court date based on a 2001 arrest for turning tricks in Hollywood. Williams pled guilty to car theft and spent 30 days behind bars in the Los Angeles Men's Central Jail.

And then there's San Francisco Puck, perhaps the most infamous Real Worlder ever. Two years after his 1994 ejection from seven-strangerville for bad behavior, David Edward Rainey (his real name) was busted for slamming his girlfriend's head into a wall, and wound up serving eight months in jail in 1999.