Did Infamously Awful Greenhorn Kelly Collins From 'Deadliest Catch' End up in Jail?

Throughout 16 seasons of Deadliest Catch, Discovery Channel fans have seen their fair share of greenhorns, and Cape Caution alum Kelly Collins — who appeared on the show in 2014 — is considered one of the worst.

His lousy attitude and almost nonexistent work ethic caused him to make a lot of enemies aboard the boat, and created all sorts of problems for Captain Bill Wichrowski. Where did Kelly end up after his crab fishing failure? Here’s what we know about the former reality star.

Most of what we could find out about Kelly’s current situation comes from a March 2018 appellate court document outlining the 57-month prison sentence he received following the revocation of his probation.

As viewers may recall, there was a warrant out for Kelly’s arrest during his time on the Bering Sea in connection to the construction of an illegal firearm. Once Bairdai season wrapped up, he was ordered to return to Alabama to deal with the felony charge.

"Being a greenhorn on the Cape Caution may be worse than prison," one crew member mused at the time, though Kelly — who Bill referred to as "Convict Collins" — refused to address his legal issues. "I said I’m not gonna say anything, buddy. I got nothing to say about it," he told the camera.

The arrest warrant came two years after Kelly pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He had previously been convicted of assault and battery of a family member in 2003. 

The court initially handed down a reduced sentence of five years' probation with six months of home confinement due to Kelly’s alleged 10 years of service in the Marine Corps, during which he reportedly received two purple hearts, a bronze star, and a silver star. But he violated the terms of his probation when he was arrested for battery. 

According to the 2018 case file, the court discovered that Kelly "had provided untruthful information concerning his education and military service at the original sentencing hearing." He received a new sentence of 57 months' imprisonment, followed by 12 months of supervised release.

The court upheld the sentence despite Kelly’s claims that "it exceeded the statutory maximum sentence permitted for a sentence imposed upon the revocation of supervised release." It’s unclear whether the fisherman is currently incarcerated.

The deckhand endured both the wrath of his fellow crew members and a giant king crab that wasn’t a fan of being manhandled by a guy in bright orange. During one Season 10 episode, Kelly suffered a painful pinch from an angry crustacean.

Unfortunately for him, the rest of the team cared more about the animal’s well-being than his own. "It was a harvestable crab so it was probably worth in the neighborhood of $60," Bill explained to Today of the infamous moment. 

"When it came up, it was real important to save that crab," he added. "If you break a leg, they're gonna die, and if they're dead, they're not worth anything."

Season 16 of Deadliest Catch airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel.