Nelly arrested for possession of ecstasy and no proof of insurance

nme.com:

NBC News Nelly, real name Cornell Haynes II, was arrested in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis in the US state of Missouri, on Wednesday (August 7) at 4:45am.The rapper was taken to the Maryland Heights Police Department by the state patrol, where he was arrested on a failure-to-appear warrant stemming from a traffic charge in the suburb.

He was also charged with possession of four ecstasy pills — a controlled substance — and being without insurance.Nelly has since been released, according to state patrol records.Scott Rosenblum, a lawyer for Nelly, has addressed the charges in a statement which denies the drug possession charge.

Rosenblum said: “[Nelly] was arrested for ‘No Proof of Insurance’ from 2018 on a warrant issued December 2023 that he received no notice.”The statement says Nelly was “targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer,” who issued a background check after Nelly won a certain amount at a casino — where he was arrested.

According to Rosenblum, Nelly has not previously had to undergo a background check when he has won “similar or greater amounts” at the same venue.He said the officer handcuffed Nelly “and parade[d] him through the casino,” and then “conducted a search without probable cause where he claimed to have found alleged ‘ecstasy,'” in Nelly’s personal items.Rosenblum said Nelly is “regularly asked to supply proof of no warrants.