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Miley Cyrus homeless MTV VMAs date Jesse Helt jailed for six months

The aspiring model, 22, from Oregon, was spotted by authorities at the ceremony after successfully avoiding arrest for four years

Jenn Selby
Wednesday 08 October 2014 09:53 BST
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Miley Cyrus' homeless VMAs date Jesse Helt appears in court in Dallas, Oregon
Miley Cyrus' homeless VMAs date Jesse Helt appears in court in Dallas, Oregon (Corbis)

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The homeless man Miley Cyrus recruited to collect her Video of the Year award at the MTV VMAs in August has been jailed for six months.

Jesse Helt, 22, from Oregon, pleaded with Judge Monte Campbell to be lenient on his sentencing when he appeared in court on Tuesday, saying he wanted to “be viewed as a good person, not as a nuisance to society”.

But the judge failed to be swayed and sentenced him to six months imprisonment for failing to honour his probation agreement.

This included meeting with his probation officer or completing his community service sentence following his arrest in 2010 for criminal mischief, criminal trespass and burglary.

Miley Cyrus' homeless VMAs date Jesse Helt appears in court in Dallas, Oregon
Miley Cyrus' homeless VMAs date Jesse Helt appears in court in Dallas, Oregon (Corbis)

According to court records, he broke into the apartment of a man who had been selling what Helt believed to be bad marijuana.

He had successfully managed to avoid further arrest, living homeless on the street for years. Until, however, he appeared on the live show with the pop star and was seen by the authorities – as well as the audience of millions across the world that the ceremony was broadcast to.

Jesse Helt with Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards
Jesse Helt with Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards (Getty)

He managed to escape the authorities for a further four days after his appearance, before he turned himself in on 28 August.

Cyrus, 21, met the aspiring model while visiting My Friend’s Place, which is a homeless centre in Hollywood.

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