Rapper Chief Keef pleads not guilty to South Dakota charges

SHARE Rapper Chief Keef pleads not guilty to South Dakota charges
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Keith Cozart, known as Chief Keef, appears at Minnehaha County Court in Sioux Falls, S.D. in June. He has pleaded not guilty to drug charges in South Dakota. The rapper was arrested June 12 at the Sioux Falls airport, where officials say marijuana was found in his carry-on bag. | Joe Ahlquist/The Argus Leader, distributed by the Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Rapper Chief Keef has pleaded not guilty to drug charges in South Dakota.

The rapper, whose legal name is Keith Cozart, was arrested June 12 at the Sioux Falls airport, where officials say marijuana was found in his carry-on bag. He had been in the city performing at an anti-bullying celebrity basketball event at the University of Sioux Falls.

The Argus Leader reports that Cozart returned to Sioux Falls last week to plead not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges for possessing marijuana, a marijuana edible and drug paraphernalia. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 27. The felony charge against him is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Cozart is from Chicago. He now lives in Los Angeles.

Kowabunga Music issued a statement at the time of his arrest saying he has had problems in the past but that he has fixed himself.

Chief Keef was charged with disorderly conduct in Atlanta in May 2013, and he spent two months in juvenile detention earlier that year for violating probation on a weapons conviction. He was sentenced to probation for pointing a gun at police in 2012.

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