Golden boy: Captain Phillips star Barkhad Abdi

10 years ago | Posted in: Entertainment | 1730 Views

In the early hours of Thursday morning, a stunned Barkhad Abdi woke to the news he had been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Barkhad, a 28-year-old Somalian refugee, has won critical acclaim for his very first acting role, playing a Somali pirate in the movie Captain Phillips in which he stars opposite Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks.

His success is all the most astonishing considering he was arrested and charged for drugs possession just over a year ago – and has been sentenced to jail time twice, MailOnline can today reveal.

Barkhad was born in Mogadishu and moved to Minneapolis in Minnesota when he was 14 – and was working as a limousine driver and also part-time at his brother’s cellphone store before he won the career-making role in Paul Greengrass’s movie.

But, as MailOnline has learned, Barkhad has also been charged with a number of offenses ranging from card fraud to giving a police officer a fraudulent name.

On August 18, 2012, Barkhad was arrested by Black Hawk County Sheriff’s County Office in Iowa, along with four others after cops were called to a disturbance on MM 60 near Gilberstville.

A police report from the time states: ‘On arrival, two subjects were holding another subject down on the ground after he had allegedly ingested a plant leave material called ‘Khat’ and drank a partial bottle of liquid Tylenol.

‘The combination of the two caused the subject to lose control of his faculties and attempt to jump out of a moving vehicle.

‘Deputies during their investigation found suspected Marijuana in the vehicle as well as a plastic baggie containing the suspected ‘Khat’.

Under his full name Barkhad Abdinasir Abdi, the actor and his friends were all charged with Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Khat and transported to the Black Hawk County Jail. Cops were assisted at the scene by fire departments, Waterloo Police K-9 Unit and the Tri-County Drug Task Force.

The charge was later dismissed by Iowa Court.

It was not the first time Barkhad had been in trouble with the law. On February 2, 2004, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail and given one year of probation for giving a police officer a false name of another person, and buying liquor aged under 21. He was also fined $1000.

It is unclear how much time he actually served in prison – believed to be Clay County Jail in Minnesota.

The following year, on June 1, 2005, Barkhad was charged with financial transaction card fraud and sentenced to 200 days in jail and two years probation, alongside being given a $500 fine. It is also unclear how much time he served behind bars, also at Clay County Jail… see more

source: dailymail UK

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