PASADENA, Calif. - A stone-faced Snoop Dogg pleaded no contest to felony gun and drug charges Wednesday.
The 35-year-old rapper, born Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., agreed to five years' probation and 800 hours of community service. He faced charges of gun possession by a felon and sale or transportation of marijuana.
Snoop Dogg's recent arrests marked the end of a relatively long trouble-free stretch for the rapper. He has burnished his image in recent years with appearances in mainstream movies and by starting a youth football league.
He was arrested at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank Oct. 26 on suspicion of transporting marijuana. Police later found a gun at his home.
Snoop Dogg also faces separate felony charges stemming from the Sept. 27 discovery of a collapsible baton in his computer bag by a security screener at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
Authorities allege the baton was a dangerous weapon. Snoop Dogg has said it was a prop for a video he was filming in New York and pleaded not guilty.
Snoop Dogg was convicted in 1990 of cocaine possession and charged with gun possession after a 1993 traffic stop. He pleaded guilty in exchange for three years' probation and a promise to make public-service announcements against violence.
He was acquitted of a murder charge in 1996 after the death of an alleged street-gang member killed by gunfire from the vehicle in which Snoop Dogg was traveling.
