Dallas Austin Pardoned for Drug Charges, Headed Back to U.S.

Grammy Award–winning producer Dallas Austin reportedly left the middle eastern nation of Dubai on Wednesday morning (July 5) and is en route to the United States. Austin was sentenced to four years in prison for possessing 1.26 grams of cocaine, but received a full pardon from Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, just hours later. According to the Gulf News, he was then deported from the country. Austin was detained on May 19 upon his arrival in Dubai and spent nearly two months incarcerated since his arrest.