Rapper Nelly was arrested early Wednesday morning near St. Louis on charges of possession of ecstasy and not having proof of insurance, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
The rapper, whose hits include "Hot in Here" and "Country Grammar," was taken into custody around 4:45 a.m. for having four pills - a controlled substance, the highway patrol said.
He was also arrested on a failure-to-appear warrant from a traffic charge in the St. Louis area after being transferred to the Maryland Heights Police Department, NBC News reported.
Nelly, whose name is Cornell Haynes II, was released.
His lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, said the entertainer was not arrested for drug possession.
"He was arrested for 'No Proof of Insurance' from 2018 on a warrant issued December 2023 that he received no notice," he said in a statement, NBC News reported.
Nelly, 49, was "targeted by an overzealous, out-of-line officer," who said a background check was required after the rapper won money at a casino where he was arrested.
Rosenblum said similar background checks were not performed when Nelly won "similar or greater amounts" at the casino, claiming the search was conducted without probable cause.
"I am 100% confident this case will go nowhere. And we will be asking for an inquiry into this officer's conduct," he said.
