Nelly’s dilemma no more: Rapper cleared in ecstasy possession case in Missouri
“Hot in Herre” rapper Nelly is no longer feeling the heat from Missouri prosecutors three months after he was arrested on suspicion of possession of ecstasy.
The Times confirmed Wednesday that the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will not charge the Grammy-winning musician. “We don’t believe the facts in this case warrant the issuing of charges,” a spokesperson told The Times in a statement.
Scott Rosenblum, an attorney for Nelly (real name Cornell Iral Haynes Jr.), in a statement to The Times thanked Missouri prosecutor Wesley Bell and his office “for conducting a thorough investigation and reaching what we believe is the appropriate outcome.”
The 50-year-old rapper, also known for hits “Dilemma” and “Ride Wit Me,” was arrested Aug. 7 in his home state at a St. Louis-area casino where he was allegedly carrying four ecstasy pills. He was held and released by police in Maryland Heights, a city northwest of St. Louis. At the time, the Missouri State Highway Patrol database also listed a citation for operating a vehicle without proper proof of insurance. Nelly initially received this citation in June 2018 in Maryland Heights. A judge issued a warrant in December 2023, and it remained outstanding.
Nelly was arrested in his home state of Missouri early Wednesday, according to the state highway patrol.
Rosenblum said in August that his client had won several casino jackpots and when he sought to collect them, the officer who would have supervised the transaction “needlessly” ran a search for warrants.
Once the officer found the outstanding warrant, he cuffed Nelly’s hands behind his back and, Rosenblum said, “felt compelled” to “parade him through the casino in front of other customers.” He also alleged at the time that the officer had no probable cause to justify the search and expressed confidence that the case would “go nowhere.”
Nelly dodged the charges a little less than three months after he and singer Ashanti welcomed a baby boy, Kareem Kenkaide. After dating on and off for 11 years and then splitting in 2013, the “Body on Me” collaborators rekindled their romance in September 2023.
The musicians secretly married in December 2023, according to a Missouri database.
Ashanti has a new baby to sing about: her first child, with rapper Nelly. The ‘Baby’ singer says she is ‘four weeks post-partum’ after welcoming her son.
“I’ve been waiting to be a mom for a long time now but nothing could prepare me for EVERYTHING motherhood brings!” Ashanti wrote in August on Instagram, adding, “I’m so proud of my body for giving me my baby, baby, baby, baby, boy.”
Nelly shares two grown children — Chanelle and Cornell Haynes III — with ex-girlfriend Channetta Valentine. He also adopted his late sister Jackie’s two children after she died of leukemia in 2005.
“Having kids is always a blessing and seeing how dope Ashanti is as a mother is awesome,” he said in a statement shared with The Times in August.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Nelly and Ashanti, expecting their first child, are officially husband and wife after quietly marrying late last year, according to a legal documents database.
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