Fact Check: Did Tim Allen go to prison? Mugshot and cocaine charge surface online in wake of Toy Story star's recent tweet 

Actor and comedian Tim Allen recently made a tweet asking about the “face” of the woke community.

The Toy Story star also asked if “wokees” have a special backyard clubhouse and a “cute yet safe” playpen:

Following the actor’s tweet, his old mugshot from the time he was arrested on cocaine charges resurfaced online, with some social media users jokingly referring to the image as “face of coke.”

Allen went to prison in October 1978 after being arrested at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport by an undercover cop. He was caught with more than 650 grams of cocaine and pled guilty to drug trafficking charges. The actor was 25 at the time of his arrest.

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How was Tim Allen arrested?

Before establishing a successful career in Hollywood, Tim Allen reportedly had a criminal record for his association with a Midwest drug trafficking scheme. In 1978, the actor was arrested at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport for carrying over 650 grams of cocaine.

According to John F. Wukovits’ book Tim Allen (Overcoming Adversity), an undercover cop named Michael Pifer followed the then-future star for several months before contacting him at the airport.

During Pifer’s operation, Allen handed over a brown Adidas gym bag filled with cocaine to the former. He reportedly placed the bag inside a locker and handed Pifer the key shortly before being exposed.

Instead of receiving $42,000 from Pifer, Allen was handcuffed and taken into custody. He was reportedly set to face lifetime imprisonment after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges as state legislators passed a law to give life sentences to any individual convicted of selling 650 grams or more of cocaine.

However, Tim Allen received a reduced sentence of three to seven years in prison for providing the names of other dealers in the drug trafficking scheme. Allen spent nearly two years and four months in a federal prison in Sandstone, Minnesota, and was paroled in 1981.

The Home Improvement star was arrested for the second time on May 24, 1997, on alleged charges of DUI while driving around Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The following year, he checked into rehab for alcohol abuse and has been sober since.

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Twitter reacts to Tim Allen’s old mugshot

Tim Allen's 1978 mugshot photo recently resurfaced online (Image via Getty Images)

Tim Allen’s old mugshot from a 1978 cocaine and drug trafficking charge recently resurfaced online in the wake of the former’s tweet about “face of the woke” community.

Several social media users also took to Twitter to react to the mugshot and the actor’s past criminal record:

Tim Allen later opened up about his imprisonment while speaking to Esquire and said that he faced a harsh reality during his time in prison:

“When I went to jail, reality hit so hard that it took my breath away, took my stance away, took my strength away. I was put in a holding cell with twenty other guys — we had to crap in the same crapper in the middle of the room — and I just told myself, I can’t do this for seven and a half years. I want to kill myself.”

He also told the Los Angeles Daily News that the comedian in him also started to grow during his time behind bars and that he even made the strictest prison guards and toughest prisoners laugh over his jokes:

“I was funny before that. Prison grew me up. I was an adolescent that woke up too early when my father was killed, and I stayed at that angry adolescent level.”

Allen decided to establish his career in comedy shortly after his release and started doing stand-up at the Comedy Castle by night.

He eventually skyrocketed to fame for his iconic roles like Tim “The Toolman” Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement, Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, Santa Claus in the Santa Claus franchise, and Mike Baxter on the ABC/Fox sitcom Last Man Standing, among many others.