DALLAS, Ore. — The young man who accompanied Miley Cyrus to the MTV Video Music Awards and accepted her prize has been sentenced to six months in jail for violating the terms of his probation in Oregon.
Officers led away Jesse Helt in handcuffs Tuesday shortly after he and his attorney asked Judge Monte S. Campbell for leniency.
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“I’d like to be viewed as a good person, not as a nuisance to society,” Helt said.
Helt, 22, was arrested in 2010 after breaking into an apartment. He violated his probation a year later when he failed to meet his probation officer, violated curfew and didn’t complete 88 hours of community service.
Instead he moved to Los Angeles. He sought modeling work, toiled at a few low-paying jobs and was homeless from time to time.
Cyrus met him during a visit to My Friend’s Place, a shelter for homeless youth in Los Angeles.
Cyrus then brought Helt to the MTV ceremony and let him accept her award for “Wrecking Ball,” the video of the year. Helt used the platform to call attention to the issue of youth homelessness.
Publicity from his appearance brought the probation violation to light.
Defense attorney Whitney Boise – hired by Cyrus – unsuccessfully asked Judge Campbell to give Helt one more chance to meet the terms of his probation, rather than send him to jail.
—From news service reports
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