The man who stole the show at the Oscars as 'Gary from Chicago' was convicted of attempted rape and also served 20 years in prison, DailyMail.com reveals.

Gary Alan Coe and his fiancee Vickie Vines were part of the group of tourists Jimmy Kimmel invited inside the Dolby Theater during the ceremony Sunday night, gaining instant celebrity.

The pair made an impression as they calmly snapped photos of the celebrities sitting just inches from them, revealed they were engaged and even got fake-married by Denzel Washington.

Gary, a native of the South Shore of Chicago, was only able to attend the ceremony because he had been released three days beforehand, he told ABC7.

DailyMail.com can disclose that one of those felonies is attempted rape, for which Coe, 59, is a registered sex offender. He was convicted of the crime in Chicago in March 1978 when he was 20.

He committed two robberies after the crime, and in 1994 was first incarcerated in California, for grand theft.

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Gary Alan Coe (right) and his fiancee Vickie Vines (left) stole the show as part of the group of tourists Jimmy Kimmel invited inside the Dolby Theater during the ceremony Sunday night. His status as a sex offender is now revealed

A mugshot taken by the California Department of Corrections on Thursday, the day for his release, and obtained by TMZ showed him smiling with delight at his freedom.

Kiss: As he was introduced to the Oscars ceremony, Gary Coe reached out and kissed Nicole Kidman's hand

Surprise: Gary Coe was seen kissing the hands of female celebrities after he was invited in by Jimmy Kimmel, including Nicole Kidman. She was nominated for best supporting actress for Lion

Security questions: It is unclear whether the Oscars organizers knew that Coe was a registered sex offender when he kissed Halle Berry's hand. She presented the best director Oscar

Front-row stars: Among the women who Coe kissed on the hand were Octavia Spencer, who was nominated for best supporting actress for Hidden Figures

Denzel Washington 'married' Gary and Vickie from Chicago who had revealed to Kimmel that they were engaged

Vickie clutched her selfie stick but clearly couldn't quite grasp what exactly was happening as she met Ryan Gosling

Public record: Coe, 59, is

Public record: The California Megan's Law disclosure which shows that Coe was convicted of attempted rape 'by force or fear'

Documented: A court record which details Coe's history of convictions, including attempted rape in March 1978 - when he was 20

THE CRIMES OF GARY FROM CHICAGO March 1978 Attempted rape. Cook County, Illinois August 1982 Robbery. Cook County Illinois October 1985 Robbery. Kalamazoo, Missouri December 1991 Burglary. Cook County, Illinois March 1994 Grand theft (more than $400) San Francisco, California April 1994 Grand theft (more than $400), San Francisco, California January 1995 Theft, Concord, California April 1995 Theft, Sacramento, California December 1996 Petty theft, Los Angeles, California. Life sentence, re-sentenced to six years in 2017, resulting in his release Advertisement

It is unclear whether the Oscars organizers knew that they were letting a registered sex offender into the theater. He was seen kissing Halle Berry's and Nicole Kidman's hands.

Coe's jail term was a life sentence handed down in 1997 for a separate crime, the theft of $79 of perfume from a Robinsons-May store in Los Angeles on December 31 1996.

He had been convicted at Torrance Court House, Los Angeles, after a four-day jury trial in June 1997.

It was a 25 years to life term, court records show, under the 'three strikes and you're out laws' in force at the time which made a third felony an automatic life with a minimum of 25 years term.

The two previous felonies which were counted as 'strikes' were a December 1991 burglary conviction in his native Chicago, and an April 1994 grand theft conviction in San Francisco.

Coe appealed the felony conviction at the time on 'technical and procedural grounds' to attempt to have it reduced to a misdemeanor, which would have voided the life sentence. But the appeal was rejected in 1999 and he remained in Los Angeles County State Prison. He also petitioned the California Supreme court unsuccessfully that year.

Court records show that his journey to release began when he made use of an amendment to the three-strikes law with a petition filed in February 2013 to ask for resentencing.

It is unclear if that was successful, however a second petition to have the theft conviction downgraded to a misdemeanor and the sentence adjusted accordingly appears to have triggered his release.

It was ordered at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on February 15. Requests for release can take time to process, and in Coe's case appear to have taken more than a week.

A mugshot taken by the California Department of Corrections on Thursday, the day for his release, and obtained by TMZ showed him smiling with delight at his freedom.



Karen Nash, who was his public defender, posted on Facebook that she had 'spent years working on Gary's case' and that his release only came on Friday.

'I'm so proud of Gary!' she posted on Facebook.

Change is possible. It's a sad day to be in prison for 20 years and not be able to be a dad, granddad to your children Gary Coe - Gary from Chicago

'For a man who was treated pretty unfairly by the justice system, he has zero negative energy. He's all about joy and positivity and patience.'

She also posted that his rape conviction was when he was 18 but that contradicts public records which show it was when he was 20.

Gary told ABC7: 'Change is possible. It's a sad day to be in prison for 20 years and not be able to be a dad, granddad to your children.'

He added: 'You know what my son told me today, man, and I almost come to tears. He said he's proud of me. So to hear your children say that they're proud of me means the world to me.'

The Jimmy Kimmel show had trailed that Gary and Vickie would be on the show on Monday night but he did not appear. ABC7 reported that he had been told the post-Oscars show was too packed and that there was not time to feature him.

DailyMail.com has reached out to ABC and the Academy, which organizes the Oscars, for comment but not yet received a response.

Public records show he was released from Corcoran Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison. The facility is north of Bakersfield, CA.

It has been called 'the largest addiction treatment center in the world', treating as many as 1,500 prisoners at a time for addiction.

Int specializes in helping inmates beat their addictions and prepare for the outside world, with up to 20 hours of therapy a week, as well as education programs.

It was behind bars that Gary met Vickie and turned to religion. The Chicago pair plan to tie the knot this summer in California.

Washington however did try to speed things up after Kimmel asked him if he would agree to be the best man.

Instead, the actor joined Gary's and Vickie's hands and said 'husband and wife', as if he had married them on the spot.

Public defender: Karen Nash posted on Facebook that she had helped free Gary Coe, saying 'I spent years working on Gary's case.'

Inmate: This was the last prison where Coe was held having been behind bars in California since 1994

Gary got to pose with Mahershala Ali (pictured) and hold his award for best actor in a supporting role as the Chicago pair walked among the stars at the ceremony

Mahershala Ali, who won the first Oscar of the night for best supporting actor in Moonlight, graciously let Gary touch his gold statuette

Vickie got up close and personal with Meryl Streep, still with her selfie stick in hand and filming

Vickie had just declared Washington her favorite actor and later said she felt like she could have died and gone to heaven after meeting him during the ceremony.

Gary meanwhile got to pose with Mahershala Ali and to hold his award for best actor in a supporting role, as well as greet Nicole Kidman with a kiss on her hand.

Another actor has since offered to help Vickie and Gary become a married couple - and he is actually licensed to perform weddings.

Anthony Anderson, who stars in Blackish, said he would like to marry the pair on live television, as he has permission to do so in California.

Gary and Vickie haven't publicly accepted or declined the offer.

His daughter, Jacqui Williams, 36, of Lafayette, Indiana, told the Chicago Tribune that her father was born in Memphis, Tennessee and had moved to the South Shore when he was 12.

He moved to California in 1992, she said and added: 'He's a really sweet, genuine, loving-type of dad. He's the best. I'm proud of him.'

The bizarre twist over Gary from Chicago's past comes after the fiasco of the wrong film being announced as winner of the best movie Oscar.

PwC partner Brian Cullinan gave Warren Beatty the wrong envelope, leaving the veteran actor puzzled before he handed it to Faye Dunaway, who announced LaLa Land as the winner.

As its cast and crew celebrated on stage, the terrible blunder became clear and the movie's producer, Jordan Horowitz, announced the truth.

'Moonlight won,' he said, shocking the crowd in the theater and hundreds of millions around the world.

'Guys, guys, I’m sorry. No. There’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won best picture. This is not a joke.'

The error was the worst in Oscars history, and a full explanation of how Cullinan, the millionaire accountant in charge of the Oscars voting as well as handing over the envelopes, came to get it so wrong has still to emerge.