If you’re not from Arizona, Tent City will mean nothing to you. To those who are sent here, it’s a the special reception felons get by the toughest sheriff in the country. They get to wear not just prison stripes but pink underwear.

For Charles Barkley, NBA star, who was given jail time for drinking and driving, it was quite a photo-shoot, and turns out, a grand PR coup for the Sheriff. Note Barkley’s prison digs have a swoosh!

He got a separate tent, and a press conference, where the Sheriff Joe Arpaio shook hands with him. But let’s not blame the sheriff . He only fed the media obsession with celebrity, knowing fully well a press conference with a super-star felon would have a nice long tail effect — if not provide some great AP photos.

Watch (and listen to the cameras in) this verison of the conference on TMZ and see what I mean.

Note: Mike Tyson was not so lucky. He wore stripes and did not get a press conference.