Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard Javon Beard has been jailed for up to 18 years after being convicted for armed robbery.
According to the Sun Online, the 40-year-old bouncer is a year into his minimum six-year jail term, after being sentenced for robbery with “deadly weapon enhancement.”
Beard gained a bit of notoriety after he and Bill Whitfield co-authored and published a book called “Remember The Time: Protecting Michael Jackson In His Final Days,” but pals say Javon had trouble dealing with fame after Jackson’s death in 2009.
According to the report, Jovan was also suffering “depression” as well as “a huge come-down prompted by Jackson and the sex abuse allegations”, pals said.
His book was turned into a Lifetime TV movie, but after the hype died, Beard’s life took a turn for the worse.
“Javon and Bill ended up becoming quite famous when they were Michael’s bodyguards and they made good money,” a close pal revealed.
“But after Michael’s death, which hit them both hard, Bill carried on with his old life but Javon wanted to carry on living the showbiz lifestyle he’d become used to.
“He’s a nice guy but he just got carried away with Michael’s success – and it was tough to deal with once that disappeared.
“Things became hard financially, he ended up falling into the wrong crowd.
“At the same time he started getting quizzed a lot about Michael and the sex abuse allegations.
“After the lawsuit from Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck came out – people started taking it more seriously and all of a sudden everyone was asking him about it.
“He found himself defending Michael all the time and it took its toll on him.
“He made some bad decisions and now he’s paying the price in prison.
“It’s been tough for him, he’s been feeling very depressed and he’s lost touch with a lot of his old friends.
“But he’s determined to come out the other side and put his life straight again.”
Beard is currently imprisoned at High Desert State Prison, Indian Springs. Nevada.
He reportedly appealed his conviction but lost.
