Cee Lo Green has been charged with furnishing a controlled substance and pleaded not guilty to the count.
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The Voice coach, formally known as Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, was charged on Monday in court for allegedly drugging a woman with ecstasy in a Los Angeles sushi restaurant in July of last year, Us Weekly reported.
Green, who appeared in court with his girlfriend for his arraignment yesterday afternoon, could reportedly face up to four years in prison if convicted.
However, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will not press sexual assault charges against the artist due to insufficient evidence regarding the incident in which the woman claimed she woke up naked in Green's bed the next morning with no memory of what happened after dinner. Green vehemently denied her allegations.
"Mr. Green encouraged a full and complete investigation of those claims and he was confident once conducted he would be cleared of having any wrongful intent," Green's attorney Blair Berk said in a statement released on Monday.
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Berk also claimed any sexual contact between her client and the woman was "consensual."
Green was reportedly cleared of the sexual assault charges partly because authorities were skeptical of the woman's story, which included an acknowledgement that she had been intimate with Green in the past. The woman also allegedly owned up to the fact she had been dating Green for months leading up to the incident, TMZ reported.
The woman also claimed she had evidence of Green discussing the alleged drugging on an audio recording, which the D.A. reportedly found to be a confession.
The Voice executive producer Mark Burnett told TMZ the criminal case won't affect Green's position on the reality singing competition.
"CeeLo will not be fired," Burnett noted.
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Green's bail was reportedly posted at $30,000 and the case will return to court on November 20.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski