NEWS: Coolio Officially Charged With Possession Of Crack Cocaine, Faces Three Years In Prison

Rapper Coolio was official charged with possession of crack cocaine and battery Tuesday (March 10), following an arrest Friday (March 6) at the LAX airport.

According to a press release issued by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, the 45-year-old rapper (real name: Artis Leon Ivey Jr) was arrested at LAX after “authorities searched his luggage and allegedly found cocaine. At one point, Ivey allegedly grabbed a screener’s arm to prevent the search.”

His attempt at preventing the search led to the misdemeanor battery charge. Additionally, he was also hit with one misdemeanor count of possession of a smoking device.

Coolio has released on bail after posting $10,000, and is due back in court April 3 for his arraignment. If convicted, he would face up to three years in prison.

In music, the Compton rapper sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, his most recognizable songs being “Fantastic Voyage” and “Gangsta’s Paradise,” which appeared on the soundtrack for the movie “Dangerous Minds.” However, his music career peaked a long time ago, and he hasn’t enjoyed a chart hit in nearly 10 years.

But, in recent memory, Coolio made a career in the acting world, appearing on “Charmed” and “Futurama” as well as a number of reality shows — including “Celebrity Fear Factor,” “Celebrity Bootcamp” and his most recent being an online cooking show, “Cookin’ With Coolio.” The cooking show also set himself up for his own cook book, but details regarding its release are unknown.

In 2008, he appeared in his own Oxygen network reality show “Coolio’s Rules,” alongside his family.

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