FAYETTEVILLE, NC (AP) — Rapper Jadakiss will have charges of marijuana and gun possession dropped if he stays out of trouble for the next three months under a plea agreement reached in Cumberland County court.
The artist, whose real name is Jason T. Phillips, was given a deferred prosecution on the misdemeanor charges at a hearing Wednesday before District Court Judge Ed Donaldson.
Phillips, 29, of Yonkers, N.Y., was charged last July when he was in Fayetteville for a club performance.
An off-duty officer stopped the rapper's recreational vehicle after he spotted someone throwing firecrackers from the window, and during a search found less than an ounce of marijuana and a pair of loaded .45-caliber Ruger pistols.
Under the plea agreement, Phillips paid $900 to cover a fine, restitution and court costs.
If Phillips, whose most recent album was "Kiss of Death," doesn't violate his probation, the charges will be dropped – a common arrangement for first-time offenders.
Under the unsupervised probation, Phillips must destroy the guns, submit to searches and drug testing at the request of a probation officer, not use or possess illegal drugs and not break any North Carolina laws.
A drug assessment of Phillips by the director of a Fayetteville alcohol and drug counseling clinic concluded his marijuana use was isolated. Phillips passed a drug test.
Phillips is due back in court June 14.
