Felony Charge Against Nelly Gets Dropped

It pays to have good lawyers. Nelly recently dodged a bullet when he appeared in court on Friday (Dec. 11) as a Tennessee judge dropped a felony charge related to the rapper's April arrest in the state.

As previously reported, earlier this year, Nelly's tour bus was pulled over by Tenn. Highway Patrol for not having a required Department of Transportation and International Fuel Tax Association sticker. Authorities claimed to smell marijuana and searched the vehicle, discovering a small amount of weed, five rocks they claim tested positive for meth and a “gold-plated 50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, a 45-caliber Tarus pistol and a 500 magnum Smith and Wesson.” The platinum rapper was charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

But now, Nelly's upward climb to get out of this legal situation just got a lot less steep. According to NewsChannel5, the biggest charge has been dropped upon further investigation of the substance police claimed was meth. “After we investigated the case fully and sent that substance to the Tennessee Crime Lab, it was discovered that it was not methamphetamine, and in fact the maximum charge that [Nelly] was guilty of were class A misdemeanors,” said Bryant Dunaway, Putnam County District Attorney.

As a result of the new information, Nelly took a diversion which allows him to have the conviction wiped from his record after 11 months and 29 days of probation. His attorneys believe the remaining misdemeanor charges he now faces will eventually be dropped as well. “This is exactly what we were hoping for, and I think it was a very fair disposition,” said Scott Rosemblum, Nelly’s lawyer.

Nelly was all smiles when he left the court room, but had a moment of ire where he lashed out at the blog site BallerReport for their report of his case, later.

The result of his day in court is good news for the St. Louis MC who is expected to continue his overseas tour tomorrow (Dec. 13) in France.

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