Rapper Kodak Black was apprehended this week on a drug trafficking offense in central Florida, marking his latest legal entanglement. The rapper, whose real name is Bill Kapri, was detained at the Orange County jail on Wednesday, facing a felony charge of trafficking MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy or molly. Kapri submitted a written plea of not guilty and requested a jury trial on Thursday, opting out of appearing in person at a forthcoming arraignment in state court.
The arrest of Kapri stemmed from a police incident in December, where law enforcement responded to reports of gunfire in an Orlando neighborhood. Upon arrival, officers discovered a group congregating around high-end parked cars, including Kapri. During a search of a Lamborghini SUV, an officer spotted a white substance on a $100 bill, redolent of cannabis. Subsequently, a search of the vehicle unveiled a pink bag containing a plastic pouch of MDMA, $37,000 US currency, and various documents bearing Kapri’s name, as detailed in the police report.
The distinctive pink bag found mirrored one depicted in a photo shared by Kapri on his Instagram account, containing a unique lighter also present in the image, according to investigators. Despite everyone on the scene disavowing ownership of the bag, including Kapri himself, he asserted that the money belonged to his business and requested its return.
Representatives Ambrosia Healy and Kevin Young from Universal Music Group, who stand for Kapri, did not respond to an email requesting comments. Kapri was released on bail Thursday evening, confirmed by a spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Kapri has encountered legal troubles in the past. In 2023, authorities in Plantation, Fla., arrested him after finding him asleep behind the wheel with white powder near his mouth, initially suspected to be cocaine but later identified as oxycodone through lab testing, for which Kapri possessed a prescription. This incident violated his probation from an unrelated case, resulting in a two-month confinement in Miami.
Moreover, Kapri was previously arrested in 2022 on charges of oxycodone trafficking and unauthorized possession of a controlled substance. After being released on bond, he underwent regular drug testing as a condition of his release. Court records reveal that Kapri was mandated to attend a 30-day drug rehabilitation program in 2023 for failing to take a drug test and subsequently testing positive for fentanyl a few days later.
In January 2021, former President Donald Trump commuted a three-year federal prison sentence that Kapri was serving for document falsification to purchase firearms. Kapri, under his stage name Kodak Black, has amassed over 30 million singles sold, including chart-topping hits like “Super Gremlin,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022.