Woman Jailed for Harassing Michael Jackson

A woman who claims she is the “Billie Jean” in one of singer Michael Jackson’s most famous songs was sentenced Friday to 303 days in jail for violating a probation order to stay away from Jackson’s Encino home.

The woman, Lavon A. Muhammad, 40, also insists that she is engaged to Jackson and that he fathered her 6-year-old twins, but her lawyer and city prosecutors say she suffers from delusions.

Jackson denies any connection to the woman, who twice was convicted of trespassing in 1986 for entering his walled estate.

The singer obtained a restraining order barring her from coming back, but Muhammad entered the property again on Feb. 12, when she was arrested at 3 a.m. in the back yard with a bottle of champagne, Deputy City Atty. David S. Kestenbaum said.

She faced several misdemeanor charges, including trespassing and violating a court order. But those charges were dropped Friday after Van Nuys Municipal Judge Michael J. Farrell found that her arrest showed she had violated the terms of probation for the 1986 convictions, which required her to remain at least a mile from the home.

“It’s really not the best use of the court to go to trial on another case when she’s getting that much substantial jail time, and with the restraining order in effect until 1990,” Kestenbaum said. “The Jacksons are still protected.”

Muhammad’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Michael M. Koire, said that Muhammad intended to commit no crime because she sincerely believes she is Jackson’s fiancee, and sending her to jail was “a misuse of the criminal justice system.”

Koire predicted that the jail sentence will not deter Muhammad from returning to Jackson’s property after she is released.