A Florida judge has officially dismissed the drug possession charges against rapper Kodak Black.
The rapper’s lawyer, Bradford Cohen, announced the dismissal and said they’re working to reinstate his bond.
Kodak still has to answer for an ongoing drug trafficking case from 2022. The rapper was also previously pardoned from his three-year prison sentence for falsifying documents to buy weapons by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kodak Black’s Drug Possession Charges Have Been Dismissed
On Friday, two months after his arrest for drug possession, Kodak Black’s case has officially been dismissed.
Judge Barbara Duffy of the Broward County Circuit in South Florida ruled that prosecutors on Black’s case could not disprove the fact that the rapper had a legit oxycodone prescription filled by a pharmacy at the time of his arrest.
According to a report, Judge Duffy stated that due to this inability to refute or negate that fact, there was no case against Black, whose real name is Bill Kapri.
Police first arrested Black in December last year after he was found sleeping on the wheel with a white powder substance around his mouth. The white powder was tested and initially found positive for cocaine, but further lab tests confirmed it to actually be oxycodone.
During the trial, the rapper’s lawyers were able to present a valid prescription he obtained from a pharmacy in July 2022. Despite the dismissal, Black still has another charge against him for allegedly tampering with evidence.
Kodak Black’s Lawyer Is Working Hard On The Case
Regarding the tampering with evidence charge, Black’s lawyer, Bradford Cohen, revealed that he hopes to get the charge dismissed.
“I wasn’t surprised,” he said, per the Sun Sentinel. “Whenever a court follows the rule of law, I’m never surprised. I’m surprised when they don’t follow the rule of law, that’s when I’m surprised.”
Black has been in a federal detention center in Miami since his arrest in December. This led to his bond being revoked in another court case he’s also battling separately.
Cohen stated that he hopes the dismissal of the drug charge will pave the way for Black’s release from detention.
The lawyer announced the dismissal on Instagram with a photo of the court papers. The caption read, “Motion to Dismiss @kodakblack new case for possession of ‘cocaine’ that was actually oxycodone….GRANTED. I will leave that right here. We have moved to have his bond reinstated. With my friends for over 20 years, @skywriter.esq and Fred Haddad.”
Thousands of fans lauded Cohen for his efforts in Black’s case, praising him and sharing anticipation of the rapper’s release.
One comment read, “It’s always refreshing to see a legal professional take pride in their work. Congrats to you.” Another fan wrote, “Kodak [doesn’t] let his fans down, but Brad [doesn’t] let Kodak down.”
The Rapper Was Arrested In 2022
Black still has to answer for his 2022 charges of drug trafficking in oxycodone and possession of a controlled substance without a valid prescription.
Following his arrest at the time, he was released on bond on the condition of regular drug tests, which he reportedly failed on several occasions.
After missing a drug test in February 2023 and testing positive for fentanyl, court records show that a Florida court ordered the “No Flockin” rapper to drug rehab for 30 days.
However, in June 2023, police issued a warrant for Black’s arrest after he failed to show up for a scheduled drug test. He was then arrested again.
Kodak Black Was Previously Pardoned From Prison
Black has been in and out of jail for the past four years and would just be coming out of a three-year federal prison sentence if not for the pardon by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
In January 2021, Trump pardoned the rapper from his conviction for falsifying documents used to buy weapons.
At the time, Black had already served about half his sentence. The pardon noted that Black had shown a heavy commitment to his community, including paying for schoolchildren’s notebooks, providing food to the hungry, supplies to daycare centers, and donating over $50,000 to restaurants in his hometown of Pompano Beach.
