Nelly’s Lawyer Says Rapper Was Targeted By An Overzealous Police officer and Not Arrested For Procession of Ecstasy

Nelly’s lawyer is clearing things up about the rap star’s arrest that went down on Wednesday morning in the St. Louis Area. He’s calling the arresting officer overzealous and claiming his client did not get arrested for ecstasy.

In a statement released to DailyMail.com, Rosenblum said that Nelly ‘was not charged with drug possession’ but rather ‘arrested for “No Proof of Insurance” from 2018 on a warrant issued [in] December 2023 that he received no notice’ about.

Nelly had been ‘targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer,’ the lawyer said, after a successful evening at the Hollywood Casino and Hotel in which he won ‘several jackpots.’

Nelly’s lawyer Scott Rosenblum is pushing back on the 49-year-old rapper’s Wednesday arrest in connection with suspected drug possession, saying he was 100 percent ‘confident this case will go nowhere’;

Rosenblum said that the police officer, ‘instead of just supervising the transfer of [Nelly’s] winnings … felt compelled to needlessly run a check for warrants.’

The police officer told Nelly that ‘a background check was mandated when a player won over a certain amount,’ Rosenblum said.

The rapper knew that claim was false after having won ‘several jackpots for similar or greater amounts, including one just a week prior without incident or a background check,’ Rosenblum said.

Rosenblum said that after Nelly was told of an outstanding warrant for the insurance-related infraction, the ‘officer felt compelled to handcuff [Nelly] behind his back and parade him through the casino in front of other patrons.’

Nelly’s lawyer said that the officer then ‘conducted a search without probable cause where he claimed to have found alleged “ecstasy” in [Nelly’s] personal property.’

Rosenblum implied that the officer treated Nelly differently due to his fame, as ‘under similar circumstances, assuming there was an old warrant without any notice to the individual for no proof of insurance, any other citizen would have been told to address it and allowed to go on their way.’

Nelly’s lawyer said that the rap artist ‘is regularly asked to supply proof of no warrants’ in accordance with ‘the requirements to travel internationally,’ and has also been vetted by the FBI.

Rosenblum wrapped up in saying he was fully ‘confident this case will go nowhere’ and that his firm ‘will be asking for an inquiry into this officer’s conduct.’