Singer Boy George faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on charges of drug possession, but his lawyer said yesterday (Oct. 11) the flamboyant entertainer had no idea how 13 plastic bags of cocaine got in his apartment.
George was arrested on Friday when New York police, responding to his call to report a burglary, recovered 13 plastic bags containing cocaine, according to the complaint released yesterday by the Manhattan district attorney.
The singer, whose real name is George O’Dowd, is also charged with filing a false report with police. His lawyer, Lou Freeman, said the singer, who was arraigned early on Saturday, does not know where the drugs came from or who owned them.
“He’s a very social person. He has a lot of people over to his apartment,” Freeman said of his client.
The felony complaint charges the singer with one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance and claims the substances found weighed more than one-eighth of an ounce.
“That is a sizable amount of drugs,” said Maggie Gandasegui of the Special Narcotics Prosecutors office.
George was released on Saturday and ordered to return to Manhattan Criminal Court for a Dec. 19 hearing. Since his passport was not seized, he was permitted to fly to London on Saturday. Should he fail to show up for the December hearing, a New York judge can issue a bench warrant for his arrest.
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