Rapper Ja Rule was slammed on Wednesday by a judge as he presented
in a court in Manhattan
for posing bails for two co-defendants.
Two of his friends, Dennis Cherry and Mohamed Gamal, are
involved in a case of gun possession and both pleaded not guilty.
State Supreme Court Justice Micki Scherer expressed her
concern about Ja Rule’s move saying that "has put himself in the position
of perhaps controlling the outcome of the case. I think the potential for it is
a big problem," the Associated Press reports.
The bail of Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, is $150,000
bond or cash; Cherry's bail is $150,000 bond or $75,000 cash, and Gamal's bail
is $20,000 bond or $10,000 cash.
Cherry is the road manager of Ja Rule while Gamal is his
driver and the owner of a limo service.
According to bail bondsman Ira Judelson, the bonds are
secured by Ja Rule's $3.5 million house in Saddle River, N.J.
Stacey Richman, Ja Rule’s lawyer, said that the two will
come up with different bail packages.
On July 22, 2007 the three were stopped by police in Manhattan for speeding around
10:30 p.m. When they’ve checked the car, police found that the car had no
insurance and its registration was suspended.
Upon searching the car, the officers found a .40-caliber
pistol, police said.
Gamal’s lawyer, Eric Franz, said that his client was not
aware of the gun being there.
Police also "detected a strong odor of marijuana,"
in the 2004 Maybach, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said in
court.
Although the odor was detected there weren’t any charges on
drug possession.
Ja Rule, 31, became famous in the mid-1990s after appearing
with Jay-Z on the hit song “Can I Get A....” his 1999 solo debut “Venni Vetti
Vecci” went platinum. He enjoyed success with his collaboration on “I’m Real”
with Jennifer Lopez.