Rapper Nelly is facing felony drug charges after being arrested in Tennessee on Saturday.
People Magazine reported that a state trooper pulled over Nelly's Prevost motor coach tour bus at about 9:20 a.m. for "failure to display a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and International Fuel Tax Association (IFTA) sticker on the vehicle." According to Tennessee authorities, the officer on duty reportedly smelled pot emitting from the bus and along with another state trooper, "conducted a probable cause search" of the vehicle.
Officers reportedly found drugs including a small amount of marijuana and a bag of crystal rocks that tested positive for meth and several handguns including a gold-plated, "a .50 caliber pistol, a .45 caliber pistol, and a .500 magnum Smith and Wesson," TMZ reported.
"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," the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOS) said in a statement.
Nelly, 40, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, was arrested and charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released from Putnam County Jail on a $10,000 bond and has a court date scheduled for June 19. A second passenger, Brian Jones, was also arrested and released later that day after posting $10,000 bail
The rapper's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said in a statement that he was "extremely confident that when the facts come out, Nelly will not be associated with the contraband that was allegedly discovered."
"Nelly was one of several individuals that was on a tour bus that was stopped and searched while traveling through Tennessee," Rosenblum added. "In fact, there had been 15-20 people that had access to the bus prior to the stop. Allegedly, a small quantity of contraband (MDMA aka Molly or Ecstasy) was discovered during the routine search."
Nelly has not released a personal statement regarding the arrest.
