Strangers donate thousands for ‘sexy felon’ Jeremy Meeks’ release from prison

Don't hate him because he's beautiful.

The Stockton Police Department believes Jeremy Meeks, 30, is part of the Northside Gangster Crips (and his rap sheet seems to confirm it).

His mom insists he has no gang affiliations and was targeted for his old tattoos.

And complete strangers across America are chipping in to help bail him out — because he's good-looking.

Days after his mugshot, which prominently feature his steely-blue eyes, went viral, people across the U.S. have collectively donated thousands of dollars.

Katherine Angier, Meeks' mother, started collecting donations on fundraising site GoFundMe toward bail and legal fees. She's raised over $3,630 in the past three days.

"He has a job and ... He was on his way to work. With no gang affiliations as per two of the charges. He has old tattoos..which causes him to be stereotyped. He's my son and I'm just trying to raise funds to help him in anyway. Please help him to get a fair trial or else he'll be railroaded," Meeks' mother wrote.

Meeks has a long history of run-ins with the law, including charges of robbery, corporal injury to a child, identity theft, negligent driving and resisting arrest.

The convicted felon's most recent arrest — police found a 9 mm round of ammunition, a small amount of what is "believed to be" marijuana, an unregistered, loaded Springfield Armory .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun and two extended magazines in his car — landed him in jail on 11 felony counts related to firearm possession, street gang membership, and violating his probation.

Bail was set at $1 million.

A spokesperson for the Stockton police told the Associated Press that Meeks is “one of the most violent criminals in the Stockton area.”

But because he's pretty, he has the Internet rooting for him.

When his mugshot was posted on Facebook, more than 90,000 people "liked" it and more than 25,000 comments poured in, most of them commenting on his good looks.

"Arrest me now!" one Facebook user commented.

"Good GAWD!!!" wrote another.

Memes started popping up of Meeks as a model.

#FreeJeremyMeeks started trending on Twitter. He was quickly dubbed the "sexy felon."

Meeks is married with two young sons. His wife didn't attend his arraignment.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you don’t see her at all in the cameras, because she's upset," family friend Simone Johnson told CBS Sacramento. "She's furious. Her man is in there and people are taking it as a joke, thinking it’s funny talking about his looks, saying all kinds of crazy things."

"He's a man who learns from his mistakes," said Meeks’ young brother Bryan Varela, who believes Meeks is a changed man after his last prison stint.

"With his past history, he got out of being incarcerated and put his mind on focus to his family and started doing what he had to do. Living the dream that he always wanted."

Meeks' attractive mugshot isn't the first to go viral.

Meagan Simmons' mugshot was also a hit online. The stunning mother of four was the face of an "Attractive Convict" meme after her 2010 mugshot was used by InstantCheckmate.com without her permission.

The ads for the background check site included the tagline, "sometimes the cute ones aren't so innocent."

Simmons, who was charged with a DUI that July, recently filed a lawsuit against the website for using her mugshot in its ads without her permission.

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