Faith Evans Busted for Drugs

R&B star and music-exec husband picked up for cocaine and marijuana possession

By Julie Keller Jan 28, 2004 9:25 PMTags

Looks like Faith Evans will be facing the music...big time.

The chart-topping R&B singer and her record-exec hubby, Todd Russaw, were arrested Tuesday by Georgia cops for possession of cocaine and marijuana.

The couple were pulled over Tuesday evening in the Atlanta-area town near their home in Alpharetta for an improperly displayed license plate. Officers then discovered that both possessed a "minimal amount of marijuana" and found "cocaine residue" on Evans, according to a police spokesperson.

The Fulton Country Sheriff Department's Clarence Huber told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Evans was charged with having an improper tag and for violation of Georgia's controlled substance act for having both the cocaine and marijuana. Russaw was charged with possession of powdered cocaine and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

Both Evans and Russaw attended a Wednesday morning preliminary hearing, with Evans' bond set at $12,000, and Russaw's at $11,000.

Though neither offered comment on the case, Evans' lawyer Vincent Dimmock is squawking, telling reporters outside the courthouse that the charges are "absolutely ridiculous, especially concerning Ms. Evans."

Dimmock claims his famous client never possessed any drugs. "She asks her fans to pray for her," he added.

The couple's next court date is February 11 at the Fulton County Justice Center.

The Grammy-winning Evans, who was married to murdered rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and once wrote songs for Mary J. Blige, has been a fixture on P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records label for years.

She scored a Grammy nomination last year for Contemporary R&B album for her 2002 release Faithfully. Most recently, she starred opposite Beyoncé and Cuba Gooding Jr. in the big-screen bomb The Fighting Temptations.