Skip to main content

For Reality TV-Show Shooting, Ex-Teacher Gets 90 Days in Jail

By Daniel Taylor, Esq. on June 25, 2014 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A former Las Vegas school teacher was sentenced to 90 days behind bars and five years of probation for a 2011 incident in which he fired a handgun at crewmembers of the reality TV show "Repo Games."

Carlos Enrique Barron, 43, was fired from his teaching job after the incident, Reuters reports. Barron was facing charges of attempted murder and battery, but was convicted on a number of lesser charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, and discharging a weapon.

What led up to this bizarre incident, and where is Barron headed to serve out his sentence?

3 Shots Fired

According to Barron's lawyer, Barron was sleeping in his home when he was awakened by noise outside and left his house armed with a handgun to investigate. Outside his home, the security crew for the reality TV show "Repo Games" -- a show in which debtors are offered a chance to keep their repossessed vehicles by playing games -- had parked their van.

Barron's lawyer contends that after Barron asked the crew to move their van, he began to feel threatened and fired his gun into the air.

However, the police report states that Barron fired three shots, slapped a crewmember, and brandished his weapon at the crew before they fled. He was found guilty after a jury trial earlier this year.

Prison or Jail?

Though some headlines say Barron's 90-day sentence will be served in "prison," that's technically inaccurate; he'll be heading to a county jail.

Jail and prison, though serving a very similar purpose in a very similar way, are actually two distinctly different places. What's the difference?

Jail is typically a short-term holding facility for those who have been arrested or charged with a crime and can't afford to pay their bail or bond. Jail is also where those serving short sentences, generally less than one year, do their time.

Jails are run by individual counties, while prisons are run by states or by the federal government. In Barron's case, he will most likely serve his 90 days in Las Vegas' Clark County Detention Center. He remains free until his next court hearing, set for July 24.

Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Facebook and Twitter (@FindLawConsumer).

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard