The musician Nelly, famous for such hits as “Air Force Ones” and “Hot In Herre,” will not be charged after he was arrested in a St. Louis casino in August, the prosecutor said Tuesday.
“We don’t believe the facts in this case warrant the issuing of charges,” Chris King, a spokesperson for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said in a statement.
Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes II, was arrested on Aug. 7 on an outstanding warrant for no proof of insurance, and state police alleged that he had four “ecstasy pills,” according to a state police report and Nelly’s lawyer.
The police department in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis, said at the time that it arrested him for failure to appear on an old traffic charge after state police transported him to the department.
Nelly’s lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, said at the time that Nelly was not notified about the warrant.
Rosenblum said Nelly was “targeted by an overzealous, out-of-line officer” who checked for warrants after Nelly won money at the casino.
Nelly was born in Texas but moved to St. Louis as a child and was raised there.
