Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' says he is 'blessed' everyone recognises him for his looks

Meeks is preparing to launch his modelling career from prison

Jeremy Meeks poses for his mugshot

The ‘handsome felon’ Jeremy Meeks says he is looking forward to launching a modelling and acting career – once he has served his 27 month prison sentence for illegal gun possession.

“I’m in a place where I will be able to provide for my family and really change my life,” he told ABC News from a prison in Nevada.

Meeks' chiselled face caught the attentions of millions when his mugshot was posted on the Stockton Police Department Facebook page in June.

He was quickly offered a modelling contract worth a reported $30,000 and $100,000 to become a porn star, but was unable to accept either when a judge handed him a custodial sentence.

Meeks says he is exercising in prison to prepare for his modelling career after signing with the White Cross Management agency, saying he wants to appear in a show like Sons of Anarchy.

“I eat healthy. I do a lot of push-ups, pull-ups, dips, burpees, and I stay very active," he said.

“I never thought that everyone in the world would recognize me for my looks, so I feel extremely blessed and very thankful.”

Meeks claimed he was not posing for his mugshot, but was instead "just thinking about missing my family".

“I was really thinking about my son a lot at that moment, that was the only thing that was on my mind.”

He is married, with a son, and his family say he has spent the last six years trying to live a quiet life after spending years in and out of prison.