Rapper Kodak Black was arrested this week in central Florida on drug charges.
The rapper, whose real name is Bill Kapri, was incarcerated Wednesday in the Orange County Jail for trafficking MDMA, a synthetic drug also known as ecstasy or molly.
The 28-year-old artist pleaded not guilty in writing and requested a jury trial Thursday. He also declined to appear in person at a future impeachment hearing in state court. His bail was set at $75,000.
Bill Kapri's arrest followed a police intervention in Orlando in November, when officers were called to a neighborhood of the city by residents who had reported hearing gunshots. According to a police report, officers found a group of people gathered around parked luxury SUVs, among them was the artist.
An officer noticed a white substance on a $100 bill inside a Lamborghini SUV, which smelled of cannabis, giving him a valid reason to search the vehicle. During the search, the officer found a pink bag containing a plastic bag of MDMA, $37,000 and numerous documents bearing Kapri's name, according to the police report.
The pink bag corresponded to a bag visible in a photo that the rapper had published on his Instagram account. The bag also contained a distinctive lighter that was also pictured, investigators said.
According to the police report, everyone at the scene denied owning the bag, including Black Kodak, who nevertheless said the money belonged to his company and demanded its return.
The rapper has already had problems with the law
In 2023, police in Plantation, Florida arrested Kodak Black after finding him asleep at the wheel, white powder around his mouth. Although authorities said the powder initially tested positive for cocaine, a laboratory analysis later revealed it was oxycodone, for which the rapper had obtained a prescription.
This arrest constituted a violation of his probation period linked to another unrelated case, which resulted in him being incarcerated in Miami for two months.
Kodak Black was also arrested in 2022 for trafficking oxycodone and possessing a controlled substance without a prescription. He was released on bail, provided he underwent regular screening tests. He was sentenced to 30 days of rehab in 2023 after missing a drug test and testing positive for fentanyl days later, according to court records.
In January 2021, then-President Donald Trump pardoned the artist who was to serve a three-year prison sentence for falsifying documents used to purchase weapons. Kodak Black had done about half of it.
During his young career, Kodak Black sold over 30 million singles, with hits such as "Super Gremlin", which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022.
