Former ‘America’s Next Top Model’ finalist sentenced to 12 yrs prison

A 28-year-old former “America’s Next Top Model” finalist pleaded guilty Wednesday to several criminal charges, including break-ins at several Palm Springs residences, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Renee Diane Alway, who finished in the top three of Cycle 8 of “Top Model,” which aired in 2007, pleaded guilty to four felony burglary counts and one felony count each of vehicle theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm. She was also charged with a misdemeanor count of identity theft for crimes she committed in 2013 in the Palm Springs area.

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 were in the courtroom Wednesday morning. Alway was also ordered to pay $58,679.58 in restitution to her victims.

Alway admitted burglarizing residences on Calle Tranquillo, Tanger Court, Juanita Drive and Toledo Avenue between June 21-26 of 2013. She also admitted to stealing a 2001 Mercedes-Benz CL600 sedan with Minnesota license plates, having a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun, and statling a woman’s personal information, according to court documents.

More than a dozen other counts, including receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a forged check and resisting an officer, were dismissed under the plea agreement.

She had been in custody in lieu of $150,000 bail since her arrest on June 28, 2013. She was taken into custody after someone reported a ‘suspicious female’, and officers found an open back door at a home in the 600 block of Violeta Drive in Palm Springs.

Officers found Alway hiding in the garage of the home, according to Palm Springs Police Sgt. Harvey Reed, who said the residents of the home were out of the country at the time.

We’ll have a full report and video from the courtroom Wednesday afternoon.