AP Photo/Jennifer GraylockCoolio is officially on notice that flying high is not cool.
The 45-year-old "Fantastic Voyage" rapper, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr., has been charged with felony possession of cocaine base, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor possession of a smoking device, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced Tuesday.
The former hitmaker was arrested Friday in the Southwest Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport as he tried to go through security. Authorities searched his baggage and allegedly found the drugs. According to the incident report, Coolio grabbed one of the screener's arms in an attempt to halt the search.
If convicted, the man behind "Gangster's Paradise," who recently appeared on the British edition of Big Brother, could face up to three years in state prison.
Coolio remains free on $10,000 bail pending his April 3 arraignment.