A&E's Storage Wars seems to be drowning in controversy lately.
With Dave Hester locked out of production, the powers that be reportedly plan to give more airtime to Mark Balelo.
Mark was introduced in season two and has been featured a handful of times since then. But, if A&E and Dave don't settle their feud soon, we could be seeing a lot more of him. An inside source told RadarOnline, "They think they are going to use this guy to replace Dave Hester."
Now that Mark is thisclose to being promoted to a full-time reality TV star, it has been revealed that he recently spent 45 days in jail.
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In 2007, Mark was arrested for three felonies: possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, and sale or transport of controlled substance. While the first two charges were dismissed, Mark pled guilty to the sale or transport of a controlled substance in 2009. He was sentenced to 60 days in prison and three years probation. “A limo was rented in my name. I wasn’t even there," Mark said. "It’s not a big deal."
Last year, police discovered the Storage Wars star transporting a firearm, which is a violation of his parole, and he was sentenced to 132 days in prison.
Mark's girlfriend, Elizabeth Metzidis explained, “When he buys storage units we come across weapons, drugs, and all kinds of things. There was a situation in June 2011 where he was carrying the contents of several units and was stopped by police. They asked if he was on probation and he said yes. So they searched everything and found things Mark didn’t even know was in the car."
Elizabeth added, “I want people to know that Mark has a heart of gold. There’s a very dear and good side to him. I have a son who has autism and he’s been very active raising money for that cause … He is a very good person who was just in a bad situation."
Concerning the allegations that Storage Wars is rigged, a publicist for the show maintains, "There is no staging involved. The items uncovered in the storage units are the actual items featured on the show."
TELL US – HAS STORAGE WARS JUMPED THE SHARK?
Not one of Mark's finer moments…
Photo credit: A&E
