Physicist Paul Frampton was convicted in Argentina of being a drug mule and sentenced to a little less than five years in prison, at least some of which is to be served though house arrest. He was immediately suspended without pay from the University of North Carolina even though at the time he had claimed innocence and was not yet convicted.
There were strong suggestions shortly after his arrest in the physics and academic blogosophere that he was framed. But, the evidence that he was guilty, rather than being framed, that has since been released is quite convincing and includes an electronic communication about drug sniffing dogs he made prior to the incident and a note in his handwriting coroborating his knowledge.
By international standards, the sentence in Argentina is relatively lenient, as is the indication that he won't have to serve the entire sentence in Argentinan jails which have a less than stellar reputation. Presumably, he gets credit for playing a minor role in the overall drug dealing world, his otherwise clean criminal record, his steady day job and his relatively advanced age as drug dealers go. Or, maybe Argentina simply isn't as harsh as, for example, many Asian and SW Asian countries that have death penalties for similar crimes.
The events have apparently not held up his scholarly productivity. He has published one physics article since he was incarcerated.