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Felony charges filed against Lil Wayne

Society Materials 26 January 2008 01:23 (UTC +04:00)

( AP ) - The Yuma County Attorney's Office filed felony drug and weapons charges Friday against Lil Wayne.

The 25-year-old rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., was charged in justice court in Wellton, Ariz., with one count each of possession of a narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

He is scheduled to appear Feb. 12 at a preliminary hearing.

Carter was in court, where a judge lifted a bail restriction prohibiting him from leaving the state. He was arrested after his tour bus was stopped in southern Arizona late Tuesday and is free on bail.

His lawyer wasn't immediately available for comment.

Carter's bus was stopped at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Dateland, Ariz., 78 miles east of Yuma. He was traveling with 11 other people.

Ramona Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said earlier that a Border Patrol canine unit alerted agents to the presence of illegal drugs on the bus. A search of the bus yielded nearly 4 ounces of marijuana, just over an ounce of cocaine, 41 grams of ecstasy and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia.

Officials also found a .40-caliber pistol registered to Carter, who has a concealed weapons permit in Florida.

In October, Carter and several other rappers were named in a federal lawsuit filed by music publishing companies, accusing them of sampling other artists' songs without paying licensing fees.

Birdman and Lil Wayne won a viewers' choice award for their song "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" at Black Entertainment Television's 2007 Hip-Hop Awards.

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