SOME OF THE NEW DANCING WITH THE STARS CELEBRITY COMPETITORS HAVE HAD "BRUSHES WITH THE LAW"

Dancing With the Stars on Monday released the names of the show’s largest ever cast of celebrity dancers. A total of 16 celebrities have agreed to compete, among them headline entertainer Donny Osmond and the show’s biggest surprise name, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

But there is one statistic being reported about the competitors that is raising a few eyebrows – nearly half have at one time or another had a brush with the law.
“Seven of the 16 hopefuls have had brushes with the law,” reports cbsnews crimesider.

DeLay, of course, was “indicted by a Texas grand jury on criminal charges that he had conspired to violate campaign finance laws. He pleaded not guilty, but Republicans Conference rules forced the 62-year-old to resign from his position as Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. His case has not gone to trial.”

Kelly Osbourne got into a wee bit of trouble in London where she earlier this year was “arrested for a 2008 nightclub incident that allegedly ended in Osbourne slapping celebrity blogger Zoe Griffin across the face, said cbsnews. Griffin claimed that Osbourne hit her after Griffin made fun of Osbourne’s boyfriend.

Macy Gray’s problems go back to her youth – when she was “arrested for stealing gasoline in 1989 while at the University of Southern California” and then later was “caught driving under the influence,” reports cbs. “Gray openly spoke about her former drug habits and lifestyle in an April 2007 interview with The Guardian,” according to the cbs article. “’I’d been very self-absorbed and really stupid and just caught up in myself, you know, doing stupid … like just partying all the time. I picked up a couple of drug habits, and I was always with the wrong guy.”

Then several others were cited for drug use.

Snowboarder Louis Vito was “likely nabbed for pot possession Aug 8, 2009 in New Zealand, according to ESPN.com. The site matched Vito to a local newspaper report, which said cops stopped a 21-year-old snowboarder set to represent America in the Olympics and a friend for a random roadside breath test and found ‘not an insignificant amount’ of marijuana in their car. Vito was known to be in New Zealand at the time,” reads the cbsnews.report.

Former Dallas Cowboys’ performed community service after being arrested for cocaine possession in 1996, and later cited for possession of drug paraphernalia after police discovered a marijuana pipe and plastic bags in his car, the cbsnews article revealed.

And singer Aaron Carter was arrested for possession of at least two ounces of