OL’ DIRTY BASTARD, currently being held in jail in PHILADELPHIA, is to return to NEW YORK to face drugs charges this week.
The fugitive Wu-Tang Clan rapper was arrested last month in the parking lot of a McDonalds in Philadelphia a week after making a shock appearance on stage with the group in New York Hammerstein Ballroom while wanted by the police for fleeing a drug rehabilitation centre in Pasadena, California. He had gone there after serving a six-month sentence in a county prison for violating probation by drinking alcohol. He was on probation for offences including making terrorist threats and illegally wearing a bulletproof vest.
After his arrest, when he mistook police for autograph-hunters in the parking lot, it had been unclear whether he would appear in court in Philadelphia or New York. But it is expected that extradition hearings will be waived during a hearing today (December 19), clearing the way for him to go straight to court in New York, where he will face drugs charges in Queens and Brooklyn.
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reports ODB, real name Russell Jones’, lawyer as saying that he is struggling with drug problems and in need of treatment: “He’s kind of sad. He wants to get the whole thing over with,” said Larry Charles. “He’d rather be on the road somewhere rapping.” And in a bid to raise his spirits, added: “I told him, ‘There’s no murder charge here. So even if you lose all these cases, you’ll still get out as a young man’.” He could face up to seven years in prison if found guilty.
Allegations against ODB currently outstanding include possessing crack-cocaine, as well as going AWOL from the drug rehabilitation centre.
New York police chief of narcotics in Queens said it would take a couple of days for detectives to pick up ODB and transfer him to the city, adding, “Then we’ll see what we can do with the charges.”