Local News in Brief : Singer Out of Telethon
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Pop singer Jonathan (Chico) DeBarge was dropped from the cast of the Sheriff’s Department’s anti-drug telethon after he was arrested last weekend for allegedly ferrying 2.2 pounds of cocaine from Los Angeles to Michigan.
The telethon, to be broadcast Saturday, will raise money for the 3-year-old Substance Abuse and Narcotics Education program, dubbed SANE for short. It is designed to help elementary school students stay off drugs.
“This telethon is to tell people to not use drugs. We could not have anyone associated with it that obviously didn’t believe it,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Jack Scully.
DeBarge, 22, was free on $500,000 bail in Grand Rapids but may not leave the area without permission from federal authorities, officials said.
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