Snoop cited for drug possession
2008-02-22 15:50
New York - Snoop Dogg plans to fight the latest in his long line of legal tangles: a ticket citing him with marijuana possession outside a Manhattan nightclub, his lawyer said.
The multi platinum-selling rapper was handed a desk appearance ticket on Wednesday night, lawyer Donald Etra told the New York Post.
The hip-hop star wasn't arrested, said Etra, who declined to identify the club.
"We are contesting the ticket," Etra told the newspaper. Police could not immediately provide information on the incident early Friday.
Snoop Dogg, born Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr, has had brushes with the law going back nearly two decades. He was convicted of cocaine possession in 1990 and pleaded guilty to gun possession in 1997.
Recent years were relatively trouble-free for the rapper until 2006, when he was arrested in three separate incidents at various airports.
He pleaded no contest in April 2007 to felony gun and marijuana charges stemming from an arrest at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California.
Felony weapons possession charge
In September 2007, he pleaded guilty to a felony weapons possession charge that arose after a collapsible baton was found in his luggage at an airport in California.
He said it was a video prop, but authorities saw it as a dangerous weapon.
He was sentenced to probation and community service in both the California cases.
A third case - in which he and five others were arrested on charges of violent disorder and starting a brawl after members of his group were denied entry to British Airways' first-class lounge at London's Heathrow Airport - was resolved when police said the rapper accepted responsibility, and they declined to take further action.
Known for making words his own by adding an "-izzle," the 36-year-old rapper is poised to release his latest album, Ego Trippin', on March 11.
His long list of hits includes Gin and Juice and Drop it Like It's Hot.
He is also an actor and founder of a youth football league.
- AP