Cee Lo Green Pleads Not Guilty To Drug Charge

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — Grammy award winner Cee Lo Green is in the limelight again and this time it's not good.

The singer-songwriter pleaded not guilty on Monday after being accused of slipping a woman ecstasy over dinner back in 2012. Prosecutors also left possible rape charges out of the mix, due to insufficient evidence.

Green, 38, whose real name is Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, could face up to four years in prison if he is found guilty of furnishing a controlled substance, which is a felony.

Green spoke only once during a brief arraignment hearing to acknowledge he understood the court's scheduling of his case.

He sat in a front row of the courtroom with his girlfriend while waiting for a bondsman to post his $30,000 bail. His case is due back in court on November 20th.

Green was pleased that the rape charge was rejected and will address the ecstasy count in court, his attorney Blair Berk wrote in a statement.

She said any sexual contact between her client and the woman was consensual.

"Mr. Green encouraged a full and complete investigation of those claims and he was confident once conducted he would be cleared of having any wrongful intent," Berk wrote. She declined further comment.

Green is the singer behind the hit "Forget You" and performed as part of the duo Gnarls Barkley. He appears as a judge on the NBC competition show "The Voice." The network declined comment on the charge.

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