Sophia Burset
Years ago, Sophia was a male fireman. Once she decided to transition to a female, she committed credit card fraud to finance her operation and hormone therapy. We also know that it was her son, who was having trouble with her transition, who turned her in.
Aleida Diaz
Aleida (Daya's mother) used to be involved in a drug operation. Her boyfriend had her cutting and bagging drugs in her home, and she took the fall for him.
"Black" Cindy Hayes
Cindy used to be the world's worst airport security employee. She would regularly harass and steal from travelers, and though it's not explicitly said that this behavior led to her arrest, it can be assumed.
Sister Ingalls
A nun since young adulthood, Sister Ingalls became really involved in social activism. This continued throughout her career with the church, even publishing a book called Nun Shall Pass. Due to her growing hubris, the church refused to support her any longer, and she was arrested after handcuffing herself to a flagpole at a nuclear test site.
Stella Carlin
We don't know exactly what crimes lands Stella in Litchfield, but we do know a little bit about her backstory. She and her parents moved from Australia to America because of her father's job, but when her parents eventually left the States, she decided to stay.
Miss Rosa Cisneros
Back in the day, Miss Rosa was a pretty serious bank robber. She was good at stealing money, but she was cursed. Her crew of men dwindled as she would take one as her lover before he inevitably ended up dead by the end of the robbery. Eventually, she got caught.
Vee Parker
It's not explicitly explained, but one might assume Vee's imprisonment has to do with the drug ring she ran on the outside.
Miss Claudette Pelage
Miss Claudette grew up as an illegal child laborer. She was sent to the United States to pay off a debt for her family, and when she grew up, she ran a cleaning service using illegal child labor. It's not clear whether she's in prison for this or because she beat a man to death for abusing one of her "employees." It's probably both.
