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Putnam County Sheriff’s Office
Nelly was arrested on felony drug charges in Tennessee on Saturday after authorities said they found drugs, including meth and marijuana, and handguns in the bus he was riding in.
The 40-year-old rapper, known for hit tracks such as “E.I.,” “Shake Ya Tailfeather” and “Hot in Herre,” and another passenger, Brian Jones, were detained at Putnam County Jail and released later that day after posting 10,000 bail, NBC News quoted jail officials as saying.
Nelly’s lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, told CNN that he was “extremely confident that when the facts come out, Nelly will not be associated with the contraband that was allegedly discovered.”
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The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOS) said in a statement that the rapper, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, was charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Jones is accused of possessing a handgun as a convicted felon. He has not commented.
TDOS said in the statement that a state trooper stopped a Prevost motor coach bus the two were riding in on Interstate 40, a highway that connects Nashville and Knoxville, for “failure to display a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and International Fuel Tax Association (IFTA) sticker on the vehicle.” He smelled pot emitting from the bus, the statement said. The trooper, assisted by another one, then “conducted a probable cause search” of the vehicle.
“The troopers discovered in the sleeper area a plastic bag that contained five colored crystal-type rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia,” police said.
CNN quoted Nelly’s lawyer as saying that the substance that the troopers say they found was “MDMA aka Molly or Ecstasy.”
“Further investigation revealed approximately 100 small Ziploc bags that are commonly associated with the sale of narcotics and numerous handguns, including a gold-plated 50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, a 45-caliber Taurus pistol, and a 500 magnum Smith and Wesson,” authorities said.
Six people in total was on the bus at the time of the arrests, they added. CNN quoted Nelly’s lawyer as saying that “there had been 15-20 people that had access to the bus prior to the stop.” Nelly had on Friday performed at the North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington.
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