Fact Check: No, 'Pawn Stars' personality Rick Harrison wasn't sentenced to life in prison
Claim:
A judge sentenced "Pawn Stars" television personality Rick Harrison to life in prison.
Rating:
According to a rumor that internet users shared in early 2025, reality television star Rick Harrison — best known for starring in the History series "Pawn Stars" — received a sentence of life imprisonment.
Snopes readers wrote in and searched our site for information about the claim, examples of which appeared in multiple YouTube videos.
One such clip, uploaded on March 26 and embedded below, amassed more than 2.5 million views as of this writing. It was titled: "Rick Harrison From Pawn Stars Sentenced To Life Imprisonment."
The claim also spread to social media platforms including TikTok and Facebook.
In short, the rumor about Harrison receiving a life sentence was untrue and as a result we have rated the claim as false.
As the website US Prison Guide noted on April 6, there was no credible evidence that Harrison had been incarcerated. A Google search for the terms "Rick Harrison" and "life sentence" also found no coverage of such a sentence from any reputable news outlets.
Some of the YouTube videos sharing the story had disclaimers acknowledging that they did not reflect reality. For example, the description of an April 2 video about the story included a section reading:
➤Disclaimer:
For entertainment purposes, our videos blend factual, rumored, and fictional content. Viewers should not consider any of this information as definitive or accurate. We advise responsible viewing.
Other examples, such as the March 26 video embedded above, did not include an explicit disclaimer that the story was fiction. However, that video's description noted that the page's stories "may not always reflect the latest developments or offer a full perspective on the topics discussed" and included a statement reading: "We invite viewers to think critically and seek further credible sources to expand their understanding."
The videos also contained multiple demonstrably false details.
For example, starting at the 8:57 mark in the March 26 video, the narrator claims that in 2023, "FBI agents, accompanied by IRS investigators and representatives from the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection," raided Harrison's home, leading to his arrest and "multiple felony charges including tax evasion, money laundering, dealing in stolen property and conspiring to traffic illegally obtained cultural artifacts."
However, it was not possible to find any record of these charges against Harrison nor of any U.S. government entity named the "Department of Cultural Heritage Protection" — although similarly named departments exist in other countries such as China and Poland.
A Google search also produced no demonstrable evidence of any 2023 raid on Harrison's home.
The same video claimed at the 16:28 mark that, following Harrison's alleged sentencing, "images of Rick being led away in handcuffs" dominated "news coverage and social media."
However, there were no such images of Harrison in handcuffs on Getty Images or The Associated Press' AP Newsroom, two major sources of images for legitimate news outlets.
Images from the videos that purportedly showed Harrison in an orange prison jumpsuit appeared to be the products of artificial intelligence software, according to the AI image detectors WasItAI and Decopy AI.
In February 2025, Harrison and his "Pawn Stars" costar Austin "Chumlee" Russell launched a podcast, "Pawn After Dark," which is not formally affiliated with History. The same month, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that "Pawn Stars" was no longer under contract with History and was on "indefinite pause" after more than 20 seasons. There was no indication that the pause had anything to do with a prison sentence for Harrison.
Ultimately, the videos sharing the story about Harrison receiving a life sentence did not recount true events. Instead, they told a fictional story designed to garner shares and likes.
The claim that Harrison was sentenced to life in prison is not the first example we have investigated of a fictional story about a real public figure receiving a life sentence. For example, we looked into the equally false claim that televangelist Kenneth Copeland collapsed in a courtroom after receiving such a sentence.
"A Different Side of 'Pawn Stars,' 'Pawn After Dark' Kicks Off." Las Vegas Review-Journal, 17 Feb. 2025, https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/a-different-side-of-pawn-stars-pawn-after-dark-kicks-off-3305973/.
Affiliation Profile – Department of Cultural Heritage Protection and International Communication – Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań. https://researchportal.amu.edu.pl/info/affiliation/4701020800?r=affiliation&title=Department+of+Cultural+Heritage+Protection+and+International+Communication⟨=en&qp=author%253Aauthor%253D%2526language%253Alanguage%253D%2526date1%253D%2526date2%253D. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
"Corey Harrison: 'I Can't Play Another Season' as 'Pawn Stars' on Hiatus." Las Vegas Review-Journal, 28 Feb. 2025, https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/i-cant-play-another-season-pawn-stars-halted-on-history-3312695/.
"HERITAGE CATEGORIES AND A CROSSCUTTING APPROACH AMONG CONVENTIONS." OurWorldHeritage Foundation for Civil Society Heritage Partners, https://www.ourworldheritage.org/videos/v/heritage-categories-and-a-crosscutting-approach-among-conventions. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
Liles, Jordan. "Televangelist Kenneth Copeland Is the Target of False AI-Generated Videos." Snopes, 27 Mar. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kenneth-copeland-sentenced-to-prison/.
Rick Harrison From Pawn Stars Sentenced To Life Imprisonment? Shocking Lie. 6 Apr. 2025, https://usprisonguide.com/rick-harrison-from-pawn-stars-sentenced-to-life-imprisonment/.
"Stream Pawn Stars & Watch All Episodes." The HISTORY Channel, https://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
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