Rapper Kodak Black was arrested this week in central Florida on a felony drug trafficking charge and pleaded not guilty, according to a report by the Associated Press. Kodak Black, whose real name is Bill Kapri, was booked into the Orange County Jail on Wednesday on a felony charge of trafficking MDMA, the synthetic drug also known as ecstasy or molly, the report said.
The Associated Press reported that Kapri, 28, entered a written plea of not guilty and asked for a jury trial on Thursday. The report also said he waived appearing in person at a future arraignment hearing in state court. His bond was set at $75,000, according to the AP.
The AP said Kapri’s arrest followed a police encounter in Orlando in November, when officers were called to a neighborhood by residents who reported hearing gunshots. Officers encountered a group of people hanging out around parked luxury sports utility vehicles, including Kapri, the report said, citing a police report.
According to the AP’s account of the police report, an officer noticed a white substance on a $100 bill inside a Lamborghini SUV and said the bill smelled of cannabis, which the officer cited as probable cause to search the vehicle. During the search, investigators found a pink bag containing a plastic bag of MDMA, $37,000, and numerous documents with Kapri’s name on them, the police report said.
The Associated Press said the pink bag matched an item shown in a photo Kapri posted on his Instagram account, and it also matched a distinct lighter pictured in the post, according to investigators. The AP reported that, at the scene, everyone denied owning the bag, including Kapri. The report said Kapri nevertheless asked for the money back and told investigators that the money belonged to his business.
The Associated Press reported that Ambrosia Healy and Kevin Young, who represent Kapri at Universal Music Group, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The AP also provided background on Kapri’s prior legal issues. In 2023, the report said, police in Plantation, Florida arrested him after finding him asleep at the wheel with white powder around his mouth. Authorities initially said the powder tested positive for cocaine, but the AP reported a later lab test found it was oxycodone; the report said he obtained a prescription for oxycodone.
The AP said that 2023 arrest violated Kapri’s probation from an unrelated case and resulted in him being locked up in Miami for two months. The report also said he was arrested in 2022 on charges of trafficking oxycodone and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and that he was freed on bond with regular drug testing as a condition of release. The AP further said he was ordered into drug rehab for 30 days in 2023 after missing a drug test and then testing positive for fentanyl several days later, citing court records.
The Associated Press said that in January 2021, President Donald Trump commuted a three-year federal prison sentence for Kapri that related to falsifying documents used to buy weapons, and that Kapri had served about half of that sentence.
In a separate note, the Associated Press said the story was updated to correct the month of the police encounter that preceded the arrest, stating it stemmed from November, not December.