The Pompano Beach rapper born Bill Kapri, 28, made his first appearance before a judge on Thursday.
Rapper Kodak Black was arrested this week on a drug trafficking charge in central Florida in his latest run-in with law enforcement. Orange County Jail records list the original charge as trafficking more than 10 grams and less than 200 grams of MDMA, the drug commonly known as ecstasy or molly. The case dates back to an incident in November, the rapper’s attorney said.
The Pompano Beach rapper, whose real name is Bill Kapri, was arrested following a police encounter in Orlando when officers were called to a neighbourhood by residents who reported hearing gunshots. Officers encountered a bunch of people hanging out around parked luxury sports utility vehicles, including Black, according to a police report. An officer noticed a white substance on a $100 bill inside a Lamborghini SUV, which smelled of cannabis, giving the officer probable cause to search the vehicle. During the search, the officer found a pink bag containing a plastic bag of MDMA, $37,000 and numerous documents with Black’s name on them, the police report said. The pink bag matched a bag seen in a photo of Black that the rapper had posted to his Instagram account. The bag also contained a distinct lighter that was also in the photo, investigators said.
According to the police report, everyone at the scene denied owning the bag, including Black, who nevertheless said the money belonged to his business and asked for it back.
Kodak made his first appearance before a judge on Thursday, where he entered a written plea of not guilty and asked for a jury trial. He also waived appearing in person at a future arraignment hearing in state court.