To say that it's been an incredibly odd week for the CBS series Criminal Minds would be a major understatement. After all that drama surrounding Thomas Gibson and his departure from the show, it seems that the chaos hasn't really slowed down. We've just learned that the Criminal Minds drama has continued in a big way, as one former guest star was busted for stealing an insane sum of money from the show's former star, Shemar Moore. Sounds like someone took the show's title a bit literally.
According to a new report from The Los Angeles Times, it appears that a former Criminal Minds guest star was just busted for stealing a sizable sum of money from former series headliner Shemar Moore. The report indicates that actor Keith Tisdell -- who appeared as a guest star on multiple episodes of the long-running series -- stole $61,084 from Moore's own charity, Baby Girl LLC. Moore founded the charity as a means of battle multiple sclerosis, but Tisdell (apparently a close friend of Moore's off-set) stole funds from the philanthropic organization.
Keith Tisdell was arrested on embezzlement charges, but ultimately accepted a plea bargain in front of a judge and admitted to accusations of grand theft. In the end, the actor seems to actually have gotten off fairly easy all things considered; in order to avoid jail time he simply has to pay back the sum of money that he stole from Shemar Moore and stay out of legal trouble during his probation period of three years. If he abides by these conditions he even has the opportunity to have the conviction expunged from his record; that's not bad when we examine the original nature of the charges.
Prior to this incident, it appears that Shemar Moore and Keith Tisdell had actually developed a fairly strong bond both on and off of the CBS crime drama's set. On camera they played nemeses Derek Morgan (Moore) and Rodney Harris (Tisdell), while off-set they became close personal friends. Tisdell worked closely with Moore on Baby Girl LLC, which seemingly afforded him the opportunity to siphon money out of the charity for his own personal use. During the court proceedings, Shemar Moore reportedly downplayed the importance of the money, but spoke about how this issue reflects a matter of lost trust and broken friendship more than anything else.
So it seems that -- although they were once actually good friends -- this scene from Criminal Minds in which Derek Morgan stares down Rodney Harris might actually play out in real life if they ever see each other again:
Cinema Blend will bring you all of the latest and greatest TV news as it becomes available to us. Make sure to check out our comprehensive fall premiere schedule and mark your calendars accordingly. Stay tuned for more details!
