'ChiPs' star gets probation for securities fraud

January 28, 2011 at 12:11p.m.

FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) — An actor who starred as one of two California highway officers in the 1970s TV series "CHiPs" was sentenced Friday to serve three years probation for conspiring to commit securities fraud.

U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn imposed the sentence on Larry Wilcox, 63, who had faced a maximum prison term of five years. Wilcox also must perform 500 hours of community service and pay a fine of $100.

"I think we got an individual who is truly remorseful," Cohn said. "He should not be punished because of his celebrity status."

Wilcox played Officer Jonathan "Jon" Baker on the show, opposite Erik Estrada as Officer Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello. Wilcox left the show a year before it ended its NBC run from 1977-83.

He wiped away tears as he addressed the court before sentencing.