Ol' Dirty Bastard Faces Charges in New York

The Wu-Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard (a.k.a. Russell Jones) waived his extradition rights in the Court of Common Police at the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia on Dec. 19. Jones' appearance before Judge Denis P. Cohen effectively sends him back to New York to face outstanding drug charges. "Sometime within the next thirty days," Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Kendra McCrae said, "New York takes him back to answer charges in that state including narcotics violation and contempt of court."

According to Ken Holder, the bureau chief of narcotics trials for the Queens district attorney's office, the narcotics violation occurred in Queens, where Jones will be charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree. Additionally, Jones is facing contempt charges in Brooklyn for not paying court-ordered child support payments.

Jones' string of legal woes go back to a 1998 charge of making terrorist threats at a Los Angeles nightclub as well as a 1999 felony charge for possession of body armor. Those charges landed him a three-year probation and court-ordered drug treatment in Los Angeles. But in October, Jones fled the facility and remained a fugitive until he made a surprise appearance at a New York City Wu-Tang Clan performance at the Hammerstein Ballroom in November. He managed to leave the venue without being arrested, but was picked up a week later in the parking lot of a South Philadelphia McDonalds.

With charges against him in Queens, Brooklyn and Los Angeles, Holder said that the possibility of a plea bargain for Jones involved "contacting all the other DAs to find out if some kind of package deal can be put together so that all these cases can be handled and covered." Having fled the drug treatment facility in Los Angeles, it is likely that he would face prison time for the charges against him in California.

Calls to Jones' private counsel Peter Frankel were not returned at press time. No specific date has been set for Jones' return or court proceeding in New York.

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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