Kriti Mehrotra
Netflix’s ‘The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist’ as well as HBO’s ‘Ringleader: The Case of the Bling’ give us an insight into how a group of teenagers burglarized celebrity homes in the 2000s. After all, they incorporate exclusive interviews and archival footage to chart not just their complex motives but also their (often entirely conflicting) personal realities of what transpired. Amongst those to share their side in the former is none other than co-ring leader Nick Prugo, who has also been featured in Discovery+’s ‘The Curious Case of… The Skincare Queen and the Hitman.’
Nick Prugo Fell Into a Life of Crime at an Early Age
Although Nicholas “Nick” Prugo grew up in a middle-class family in suburban Granada Hills, San Fernando Valley, he got into acting at quite a young age upon noting the fame surrounding celebs. It was “the experience of the cameras and the attention” that he enjoyed rather than the creative craft, he conceded in the docuseries, yet he added his end goal was “deeper than” notoriety. Whichever aspect it may be, things did change once Nick hit puberty because he began to question his sexuality and even inadvertently grew very self-conscious, eventually driving him to quit.
There was another shift in Nick’s life when the family moved to Calabasas, and he came across Rachel Lee in school, especially as she’s reportedly the one with whom he started his life of crime. At first, it was only stealing cash and cards from unlocked vehicles in affluent neighborhoods, but it soon evolved into boosting these cars before they ultimately made their house burglary debut. The then-10th graders allegedly made out with $8,000 cash from this first hit, urging them to essentially make this their job — Nick claimed he was stealing to satisfy his cocaine habit at the time.
From there, Nick and Rachel reportedly targeted Paris Hilton, Audrina Patridge, Rachel Bilson, Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom, Brian Austin Green, as well as Megan Fox to have a $3 million heist. They even recruited some friends from time to time, yet their intention was largely to nab some designer clothes, cash, and a few resellable items to maintain a celeb-like lifestyle themselves. However, it all came to an end upon Nick’s arrest in 2009 — he soon confessed at his lawyer’s advice, leading officials to Rachel, Alexis Neiers, Courtney Ames, Diana Tamayo, and Ray Lopez.
Nick Prugo is Running an Online Store With His Husband Today
It was in 2012 that Nick pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree residential burglary (Lindsay Lohan and Audriana Patridge), for which he was sentenced to 2 years in state prison. But he was released on probation after serving just one year in county jail (April 2013). The same year, he told ABC News, “I didn’t really understand… what was real and what wasn’t … just because I was so consumed with reality television.” As made clear in the Netflix original, though, Nick now knows “a good sense of self does not come from material possessions… I’m still responsible for what I did.”
It’s imperative to mention that Nick’s legal troubles did not end with his freedom in 2013 — the California native was charged with stalking and solicitation to commit sexual assault in 2015. He and his accomplice, Edward Feinstein, later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of stalking and were sentenced to 350 hours of community service. The solicitation of rape charges against them was dropped owing to insufficient evidence. They also received three years of probation, plus an order to keep away from their victim, celebrity esthetician Dawn DaLuise, as well as her family for a decade.
Coming to his current whereabouts, from what we can tell, Nick now goes by Nick Norgo and is based in Los Angeles with his husband of over seven years, Sweden-born Per Norgo. The travel-enthusiast couple proudly owns a home goods online store called Norgo Essentials at the moment, the products of which you can find on Amazon as well. Otherwise, from what we can tell, he prefers to lead a quiet life well away from the limelight, hoping to move on from the past to the best of his abilities.
Read More: Where is The Bling Ring’s Ex-Leader Rachel Lee Now?
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