'Orange Is the New Black': Crimes That Landed the Inmates in Jail

PIPER

Piper was jailed after being found guilty of money laundering and criminal conspiracy.

It should be noted, however, that her charges are stem from an incident where her girlfriend Alex persuaded her into smuggling a suitcase of drug money through customs.

Speaking of Alex...

ALEX

She's in jail too, for trafficking heroin for a notorious drug lord, as well as for violating probation.

SOPHIA

Easily one of the most likable characters on the show, Sophia is in prison for credit card theft, which funded her hormonal therapy and gender confirmation surgery.

‘Crazy Eyes’ Suzanne

Sophia is certainly likable, but you would be hard-pressed to find an Orange is the New Black character more beloved than Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren.

She's equal parts good-natured, unpredictable, well-meaning, and tragic.

Her reason for being in Litchfield Penitentiary is also tragic, as it has to do with a young boy she met at a park who fell from her fire escape and died. "Crazy Eyes" was charged with kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter.

ALEIDA

Like a number of the other inmates, Aleida is in prison on drug charges. She allowed her boyfriend to turn her apartment into a drug manufacturing center.

DAYA

The charges against Daya, Aleida's daughter, are not totally clear, but appear to also be related to her mother's boyfriend's drug business.

Nicky

Nicole "Nicky" Nichols is a lot like "Crazy Eyes" in that she's both extremely likable and heartbreakingly tragic.

She is in prison on for heroin possession, as well as breaking and entering, due to breaking into a neighbors apartment to steal stuff so that she could in turn buy heroin.

Later in the series she comes into possession of heroin again while in prison and begins using.

MORELLO

Morello is locked up for multiple reasons, from running a very complicated mail-order scam to harassing an ex and violating a restraining order he has placed against her. She also tried to kjill him and his new love by putting a homemade bomb underneath their vehicle.

PENNSATUCKY

In true Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett fashion, she is in jail for murdering an abortion clinic employee who offended her by commenting on the amount of abortion procedures she's undergone throughout the years.

TAYSTEE

The series may have started out being about Piper, but somewhere along the way Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson became just as crucial to the series.

Taystee's story is very complicated, and ties into multiple other dynamics of the Orange is the New Black overall plot.

She is behind bars, however, for trafficking heroin, but also for violating her parole.

BIG BOO

Carrie "Big Boo" Black's main cause for being in jail hasn't been divulged quite yet, but it is presumed that it's due to felony theft or fraud of some kind. She was also known to have run a gambling ring, so that could related to why she is locked up.

RED

Connection to organized crime is essentially what landed Red in prison. After assaulting a mob boss' wife at her deli, Red was forced to take on some horrible jobs as her punishment, including having her restaurant used to store corpses.

Maritza

Maritza is a fun character that tends to typically keep things on the light side.

Her storyline has certainly had some rough, hard-to-watch moments, but overall she is usually a relief from intensity and drama.

The main reason she wound up in prison in the first place, though, is due to a scam she attempted to run on a car dealership while test driving one of their cars. She wound up being charged with grand theft auto.

BLANCA

The cause of Blanca being locked up is a bit unusual, even for this crew. She was put in jail for elder abuse, which was due to her having sex in front of an elderly woman who she was hired to care for.

BROOK

Easily the most ridiculous charges against an Orange is the New Black inmate are against Brook, who claims to be locked up over protesting logging by living in a tree so it could not be cut down. Seems like there must be more to that story...

LEANNE

Leanne has a complicated backstory that is necessary to understand when it comes to the charges against her.

While she is in jail for drug possession and breaking house arrest, she originally comes from an Amish community where that sort of thing would not be a temptation.

However, while on a a temporary vacation of sorts she discovered illegal drugs and her life spiraled from there.

ANGIE

Leanne's BFiP (Best Friend in Prison) Angie is also locked up for drug-related charges.

GLORIA

The only one of her kind in the main cast, Gloria Mendoza is in jail for food stamp fraud.

LOLLY

Lolly finds a place alongside "Crazy Eyes" as one of the only characters who make you chuckle and then immediately break your heart.

Played by the inimitable Lori Petty, Lolly is locked up on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer.

The story is far more complicated, however, as Lolly's arrest was due to officers thinking she was pulling a weapon to use against them when she was really trying to drown out voices she was hearing in her head.

MEI CHANG

Mei Chang is perpetually enigmatic, but what we do know is that she is jail on organized crime-related charges.

'YOGA' JONES

In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Yoga is in jail for manslaughter after shooting a teen in her marijuana field after she mistook him for a deer.

NORMA

Norma is the quiet lady who is close with Red and Gina, but never really divulges to much about herself. Or anything, for that matter.

Her soft demeanor gentle exterior may surprise to be reminded that she is actually in jail for murder.

Norma killed her husband, who was a notoriously cruel cult leader, by shoving him off a cliff.

BRANDY

Amidst a pile of dark jail-worth charges, Brandy's still stick out as truly horrible. A self-defined Neo-Nazi, Brandy was put in prison for poisoning and subsequently killing many African-American and Jewish customers of a coffee shop she was employed at.

FRIEDA

If there is one inmate who should not be trifled with, its Frieda. She is locked up for murdering five people, including a cop, and assaulting her husband with a butchers knife.

FLACA

Maritza's best friend, and another hard to dislike character, Flaca is behind bars for selling fake LSD to a high school student who killed himself while believing he was high on the illegal substance.