Grammy-nominated rapper Tauheed Epps, also known as 2 Chainz, was found not guilty Wednesday in Talbot County District Court on marijuana charges stemming from a traffic stop on Feb. 14.
Police stopped a 2013 Ford E-350 van, in which Epps and six others were traveling to a concert at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, on U.S. Route 50 and Hiners Lane, for speeding.
Upon stopping and approaching the vehicle, police said, officers smelled burning marijuana coming from the van, and then searched it for probable cause.
After searching the vehicle, police said they found a metal grinder, later identified in court as such, in a gray bag that was inside a camouflage-colored bag.
Police said Epps the camouflage bag was his, but did not take responsibility for the grinder in the gray bag.
When police began to arrest Epps, charging him with possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia, Epps asked the people he was traveling in the van with who owned the grinder, according to court witnesses.
At that time, Harold Folsome Jr., a security guard contracted out of Ohio, approached police and took responsibility for the grinder in the bag.
Folsome said during trial that before they were stopped on Route 50, the group was at a hotel in Baltimore.
Folsome, who is partly responsible for packing and transporting Epps’ bags, said he and three other people, including Epps, were in the hotel suite getting ready to depart for the show when he grabbed various items from around the room and put them into the camouflage bag, and then subsequently in the van.
Folsome denied owning the grinder, and said he did not know who did. He also said he was not paying attention to what he was putting in the bag, as he was in a rush to leave for the show.
“Whoever left it in the room, I guess that’s who it belonged to,” Folsome said.
Folsome said he told police the grinder was his because he was the one who put it in the bag and should be responsible for it, saying, “When I saw what it was, I knew what I did.”
2 Chainz’s defense attorney argued that there was no evidence to prove the gray bag belonged to the rapper…
Read more: Stardem.com
