Singer granted probation over September incident.
By Gil Kaufman
Bruno Mars
Photo: Steve Granitz/ WireImage
After winning a Grammy, getting a standing ovation from his musical peers at Sunday night's show and announcing his upcoming co-headlining tour with Janelle Monáe, Bruno Mars has a lot to celebrate.
The 25-year-old singer got a bit more good news Wednesday (February 15), when he avoided a possible jail sentence by pleading guilty to a count of felony cocaine possession stemming from an arrest in Las Vegas in September. According to TMZ, as part of an earlier plea deal negotiated by his lawyer, Blair Berk, Mars appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom on Wednesday morning to enter the plea.
As part of the deal, if he stays out of trouble for 12 months, Honolulu native Mars (born Peter Hernandez) can petition to withdraw his plea and the case against him will be dismissed and removed from his record.
In the meantime, he will be on probation for a year and is required to complete eight hours of private drug counseling, pay a $2,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service with a charitable organization.
Berk told TMZ: "We are very pleased that the prosecution has agreed to dismiss the charge."
The Las Vegas Sun reported that in his brief appearance in front of Clark County District Judge Jessie Walsh, Mars answered the judge's questions in a quiet voice and avoided looking at cameras. The paper also reported that Berk asked if Mars could perform his drug counseling online rather than travel from his California home to Las Vegas for the sessions; prosecutors agreed to allow him to take counseling from a private company in California.
The "Grenade" singer was arrested September 19 after security at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino confronted him in a bathroom and found him in possession of 2.6 grams of cocaine.
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658117/bruno-mars-guilty.jhtml
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