{"id":327335,"date":"2024-08-08T19:14:19","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T00:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=327335"},"modified":"2024-08-09T09:52:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:52:00","slug":"whoa-nelly-rapper-arrested-at-missouri-casino-for-drug-possession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/whoa-nelly-rapper-arrested-at-missouri-casino-for-drug-possession\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Nelly Was Targeted for Arrest After Winning Casino Jackpots — Attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"
UPDATE:<\/strong><\/em> A lawyer for Nelly told TMZ<\/em> on Thursday that the rapper was “targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer” after trying to cash in several jackpots he won at a St. Louis casino early Wednesday, and that his arrest was unlawful.<\/p>\n According to attorney Scott Rosenblum, an officer supervising the transactions told Nelly that a background check needed to be performed for him to collect. Rosenblum said his client recognized the request as bogus since he had collected multiple previous jackpots at the Hollywood Casino St. Louis without submitting to background checks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The check was conducted anyway, turning up the 2018 bench warrant for, as we reported below, driving without insurance. According to Rosenblum, it was only because Nelly was famous that he was taken into custody instead of handed a citation for the infraction.<\/p>\n After Nelly was paraded through the casino, Rosenblum said, his belongings were searched without probable cause, which is when four ecstasy pills were discovered.<\/strong><\/p>\n Though the Missouri Highway Patrol, which stations troopers from the state’s gaming division at the Hollywood Casino, claimed that Nelly was booked for felony drug possession, Rosenblum claimed his client wasn’t<\/em> charged with drug possession and that the case will lead nowhere — except possibly to an inquiry into the arresting officer’s conduct.<\/p>\n EARLIER:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Nelly was arrested early Wednesday morning at the Hollywood Casino in Maryland Heights, Mo., a suburb of his hometown of St. Louis. According to online arrest records, the 49-year-old rapper was charged with possessing ecstasy, which is a controlled substance, and driving without insurance.<\/p>\n
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