Jeremy Meeks warns Jamaican gangsters

He is often referred to as the 'sexy bandit', 'hot felon' or 'blue-eyed convict', and while actor-model Jeremy Meeks doesn't mind the nicknames, he insists that that chapter of his life is closed forever.

Criminal activities don't pay and the former gangster said he is using this opportunity to encourage Jamaican gang members to desist from their ways. As he sat in THE STAR offices on Wednesday, he said his time in federal prison has taught him that he and his now ex-rivals shared common ground.

"The system is designed to brainwash us to think that we are enemies with our own kind. They need us to move and feel from a place of pain and anger. The system pretty much has us doing their jobs. It took me going to prison to sit down with someone who I thought was my enemy and having a conversation with them and realising that we have everything in common, and that we come from the same place. Crime isn't the answer to anything good," he said.

An estimated 150 gangs are currently in Jamaica, and while this number is fewer compared to previous years, there is still concern. Like many Jamaican gangsters, Meeks was in and out of prison since he was a teenager. A former member of the Crips street gang, the 41-year-old has spent a portion of his sentences in solitary confinement and said that, at a point in his life, he felt a sense of belonging behind bars.

"I was a gang member who carried a lot of pain and I never saw myself in this creative light. My life before the mugshot was scary and there was lot of violence. Before that mugshot, I would have already done eight and a half years in state prison in different instances. I was so institutionalised that I would get out and in 72 hours I would be back in because that was where I felt comfortable. I have been getting locked up from I was a juvenile until young adulthood," Meeks said.

On June 18, 2014, Stockton Police Department in California arrested Meeks and three other men in a multi-agency law enforcement mission dubbed Operation Ceasefire. Meeks was listed as a "convicted felon, arrested for felony weapon charges". He denied the charges. The same day, mugshots of several men, including Meeks', were posted on the Stockton Police Department's Facebook page. Within 24 hours, Meeks' photo acquired thousands of views and comments, mostly from females who were captivated by his physical features.

Currently, he has traded his orange jumpsuit for quality time with his family. Travelling across the world never once crossed his mind, and Meeks said he often believes he is trapped in a beautiful dream.

"I have come to realise that some of my darkest moments were some of my most incredible, and I wouldn't change anything because it's beyond a blessing. I never dreamed about being a model, actor or entertainer. I was living with a lot of anger in my childhood and teenage years, so trying to become a movie star just didn't come across my mind. It didn't even register in my head that it was possible. I still pinch myself to see if all of this is real," Meeks said.

"My old life feels like a distant movie that I used to watch and like that I really did not live the shootings, stabbings, prison and the riots. Now I am just travelling and raising my kids with my family. I just came back from Germany. My life is just so different now and you just can't make this up," he added.