Mike 'the Situation' Sorrentino went to prison for tax evasion. Now, he's hosting a true-crime series: 'It takes a con to know a con'
“I’m definitely a big believer not to let your circumstances sort of define you, but refine you,” Sorrentino tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino admits “it takes a con to know a con.”
In October 2018, the reality TV star was sentenced to eight months in prison for one count of tax evasion after he and his brother Marc Sorrentino were accused of filing falsified tax returns on almost $9 million of income.
On top of prison time, Sorrentino was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and 500 hours of community service, and fined $10,000. He also paid $123,913 in restitution, according to federal prosecutors. His brother was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the crime.
“I’m definitely a big believer not to let your circumstances sort of define you, but refine you,” Sorrentino told Yahoo Entertainment in a new interview.
Now, Sorrentino is applying that belief to his new show, Statute of Limitations. The series, which is now streaming on Tubi, YouTube, the Roku Channel and FilmRise, “explores nonviolent crimes as told by the real, everyday people who committed them,” according to the series synopsis.
In the show, participants open up about their nonviolent crimes after the statute of limitations, or the “set time limits where citizens cannot be charged for committing crimes once a specific window” has passed, the show’s description states. The show does not conceal the identities of the participants, as “these laws protect defendants from unfair ... legal action.”
“It takes a con to know a con, and I was the man for the [hosting] job. ... People want to tell their story,” Sorrentino said. “When you actually see this show and you see the stories and some of the crimes, it’s kind of lighthearted. We’re not talking about anyone getting hurt here.
“I was so excited when I got that call” to host, he added.
About the show
Statute of Limitations is a 10-episode series narrated by the admitted perpetrators, who share “exactly why they committed their crimes,” the series synopsis said.
“Some people just have these stories that were locked up and they’re hidden,” Sorrentino says. “They can now tell their story, and they’re brave enough to do that.”
The stories vary, from “a sorority sister who unexpectedly stole a police car” to “a Catholic schoolgirl who took revenge against a mean girl” to “a small-town kid turned head of the New York gay mafia” and “a woman who hosted a massive party at a stranger’s mansion.”
What’s next
In 2023, Sorrentino came clean about doing and dealing drugs, squandering his money and going to prison for tax evasion in his memoir, Reality Check: Making the Best of the Situation.
“Most people don’t make it out of that life of excess. Some people die, or they fade away really quickly. So I thought it was important to speak about the excess — of the drugs and the women and the fame and the millions. Most people don’t escape and get to the other side,” he told Yahoo in a December 2023 interview.
Sorrentino, who rose to fame on MTV’s reality juggernaut Jersey Shore in 2009, knows his launchpad show was “lightning in a bottle,” he said recently. “We turned 15 minutes of fame into 15 years. Everyone has babies and businesses and various TV shows, multiple TV shows. Jersey Shore Family Vacation is No. 1 every Thursday night.”
As for what’s next for the newly minted TV host, Sorrentino said he is hoping to turn his memoir into a documentary and a film, and is eyeing “a reality TV show based on recovery.”
“It’s gonna be a big year,” he says.
