Idol Also-Ran Clark Likely Cell Bound

Thu., Oct. 11, 2007 6:07 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Corey Clark keeps returning to the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The erstwhile American Idol finalist is facing up to two years in jail after pleading guilty last week in Arizona to felony aggravated harassment involving domestic violence for trespassing on his father-in-law's property, where his estranged wife was staying at the time.

While the minimum penalty is four to six months, Clark's pending sentence could be stiffer because when he set foot on Esmundo Tejeda's land on July 24, 2006, he was also violating a restraining order obtained by his missus, Tejeda's daughter, according to the plea deal struck in Yuma County Superior Court on Oct. 2.

Clark will also receive probation and could be fined as much as $150,000.

Sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 1.

The season-two Idol reject, who since being dismissed from the show in 2003 for failing to disclose his arrest record has seemingly been auditioning for a lead role on Cops, was arrested by Yuma County sherif's officers last summer on suspicion of trespassing and charged with contempt of court for violating his wife's order of protection, which remains in effect.

Clark's plea bargain also encompasses phone calls he made to the Tejada residence between Aug. 19 and Aug. 21, 2006, again in violation of the restraining order. The legally challenged 27-year-old failed to show up for his arraignment on four charges of not complying with a court order, and a warrant was issued for his arrest in March.

Those four felony counts have been dismissed pending the successful completion of his probation.

Meanwhile, the outstanding warrant caught up with Clark this summer, when police in North Little Rock, Arkansas, busted him for marijuana possession in the early-morning hours of July 30.

According to the North Little Rock Police Department, Clark was a passenger in a car that was reported to be suspiciously idling on a residential street. After running the suspect's name through the National Crime Information Center database, officers discovered the outstanding charges and agreed to keep Clark in custody for 15 days until his extradition back to Arizona was processed.