Cee Lo Green has pleaded not guilty to a charge of giving a woman ecstasy last year before having sex with her.
According to TMZ , Green posted $30,000 bond and is expected to turn himself in to authorities for booking within the next 24 hours. Green must be present for his next hearing, which has been set for November. If convicted, he faces up to four years in a state prison.
The not guilty plea came shortly after Green was cleared of a sexual assault charge due to insufficient evidence.
“We are pleased that the Los Angeles County District Attorney has completed its investigation and concluded that the evidence did not support the false and unfounded claims made over a year ago,” Cee Lo Green’s attorney Blair Berk told TMZ, “As it relates to the one charge of furnishing or sharing ecstasy, Mr. Green will responsibly address that matter in a court of law.”
The Los Angeles Police Department began reinvestigating the sexual assault case against Green — whose real name is Thomas DeCarlo Callaway — earlier this month. The alleged victim claimed that Green put ecstasy in her drink at a downtown Los Angeles restaurant last July. She said when she woke up, she was lying in bed naked with Green in the room.
The LAPD had the woman make a “pretext call” to try to get Green to confess. He repeatedly apologized and referred to MDMA, but didn’t say that he put anything in her drink. Sources close to the 39-year-old said MDMA is not known to knock people out and make them oblivious to their surroundings.
The LAPD submitted the case to the District Attorney, who sent it back to the police for further investigation.
Cee Lo Green has denied any and all wrongdoing, saying, “Nothing ever happened there [at the restaurant” or anywhere else.
The Voice executive producer Mark Burnett said Green “will not be fired” from the singing competition due to the charges against him. Green, who has been a judge since the competition debuted in 2011, sat out season four, but returned for the new season. He took a break to work on new music and a reality show on TBS called The Cee Lo Life . The series will premiere sometime in 2014.
The fifth season saw the original judging panel — Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton — reunited after Usher and Shakira filled in for Green and Aguilera last year. Usher and Shakira are expected to return next season.