NORFOLK, Va. — A former contestant for the show "American Idol" will spend nearly four years behind bars.
That was the sentence a federal judge handed down to 32-year-old Antonella Barba on Thursday.
Barba admitted she planned to sell two pounds of illegal drugs to people in Hampton Roads.
The investigation that led to her arrest began when police heard someone was going to deliver a large amount of fentanyl in the city of Norfolk.
Court documents show Barba flew from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. and then drove down to Norfolk in October 2018.
Police staked out a Norfolk stash house and found Barba parked inside a rental car on Duke Street. A drug dog alerted on the vehicle, and police found a shoebox full of drugs inside.
Barba was sentenced to 45 months in prison for possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be stronger and more lethal than heroin.
Barba, who is from Point Pleasant, New Jersey, competed during Season 6 of "American Idol" in 2007. Barba made the Top 16. Ultimately, Jordin Sparks won that season.
Barba would also go on to appear on the reality show "Fear Factor."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.