Rapper Cornell Haynes, Jr., better
known as Nelly, was arrested on felony drug charges in Tennessee on Saturday
morning after highway patrol officers found drugs and handguns in the tour bus
he was riding in, reports NBC News.
A Putnam County highway patrol
officer stopped the bus at around 9:20 a.m after noticing that the vehicle
lacked its mandated U.S. Department of
Transportation International Fuel Tax Association sticker. The trooper says he
then smelled marijuana (getting an early start to the
festivities there, eh bus riders?), and when the vehicle was subsequently
searched, five
crystalline rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, a small amount of
marijuana and three handguns were found inside a plastic bag in the sleeping
area of the bus.
Nelly was charged with felony possession of drugs, simple
possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, while fellow
passenger Brian
Jones was arrested for allegedly having a handgun as a convicted felon. Both
men were booked and taken to Putnam Country Jail, where they each posted
$10,000 bail and were released Saturday evening.
Nelly’s
attorney, Scott Rosenblum, has since denied the rappers association
with the contraband found on board, reports People,
saying, "Nelly was one of several individuals that was on a tour bus that
was stopped and searched while traveling through Tennessee. In fact, there had
been 15-20 people that had access to the bus prior to the stop … We are
extremely confident that when the facts come out, Nelly will not be associated
with the contraband that was allegedly discovered."