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Update: Nipsey Hussle Arrested for Possession of Codeine

Rapper didn't have a prescription for the controlled substance; lawyer says rapper had a good reason.

UPDATE: A lawyer for Nipsey Hussle says the rapper had a good reason for having codeine in his car, and points out that he was not driving while intoxicated.

"My client, Ermias Asghedom, has a severe strep throat condition from performing multiple shows monthly and was prescribed cough syrup as a remedy," attorney Mark Bledstein said via statement to Hot New Hip Hop. "He is currently in the final stages of the recording process of his new album Victory Lap, and couldn't project his voice without treatment. The night of his arrest we was not driving but parked in front of a recording studio in Burbank when he was approached by the police."

Bledstein adds, his Nipsey was completely cooperative. "He willingly allowed the officers to search his car and told them where the cough syrup was. After running his name they found an outstanding traffic warrant that he was taken into custody for and cited out for later that night. I have contacted the courts and began the exoneration process for the cough syrup simply by providing his prescription. He is doing great and excited about his upcoming album release."

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Nipsey Hussle was arrested in Burbank, Calif., late Wednesday over a cup of codeine, reports TMZ. Hussle, whose birth name is Ermias Asghedom, was pulled over at 11:20 p.m. for a traffic violation when police noticed the a bottle of the prescription sedative in his car, along with a cup of ice, and a bottle of soda.  

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He did not have a prescription for the drug, and was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, in addition to an outstanding warrant for driving on a suspended license. "People who abuse codeine to get high commonly acquire it either from friends/associates or through fraudulent prescriptions, and remove the prescription label to mask where it came from and who it was prescribed to,” said Lt. Adam Cornils of the Burbank Police department. 

The 29-year-old rapper has already posted bail.

See Nipsey Hussle breakdown the West's influence in the 2015 BETX video Xclusive, L.A. to the Bay, below.

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