On Monday, Rosie O'Donnell's eldest daughter, Chelsea Belle O'Donnell, faced the consequences of her tumultuous fall, receiving a six-year probation sentence following three consecutive arrests. According to court documents examined by Entertainment Weekly, Belle pled guilty in February to one felony count of methamphetamine possession, one felony count of bail jumping, and one misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing an officer. For each of these offenses, she was handed a two-year probation term. Additionally, two other charges – a felony for narcotic drug possession and a misdemeanor for possessing drug paraphernalia – were mercifully dropped.
Represented by attorney Brad Hansen, Belle retains the option to appeal her sentence and has been credited with 33 days served in jail towards her probation. Her legal woes began in earnest last autumn. On September 10, Belle was apprehended in Marinette County, Wisconsin, and slapped with multiple felony counts, including child neglect, methamphetamine possession, and maintaining a drug trafficking site. She was further charged with four narcotics-related misdemeanors.
At the time, O'Donnell's adoptive mother somberly remarked, "Sadly, this is not new for our family. Chelsea has battled drug addiction for a decade. We all harbor hope that she will eventually find her way out of this lethal grip." In November, Belle was rearrested on similar possession charges and confronted with new allegations, including two felony counts of bail jumping and a misdemeanor for resisting or obstructing an officer. Court records scrutinized by EW revealed that she had also been arrested in October, making Monday's sentencing the climax of a three-month arrest spree.
Belle, born on September 20, 1997, was adopted by O'Donnell and her ex-wife Kelli Carpenter as an infant. They nurtured her until 2015, when, at the age of 17, she ran away from home and eventually relocated to Wisconsin to reside with her birth mother. O'Donnell admitted that she was estranged from Belle until the latter announced her pregnancy with her first child in 2018, which sparked a reconciliation. Today, Belle is a mother to three children: Skylar Rose, Riley, and Avery Lynn.
Meanwhile, O'Donnell disclosed in March that she had relocated to Ireland with her 12-year-old son, Clay, in anticipation of Donald Trump's inauguration. Despite their years-long, bitter public feud, O'Donnell stressed that her move was prompted by the "heartbreaking" political climate. The former View anchor confessed, "When it is safe for all citizens to enjoy equal rights in America, that's when we will contemplate returning."
