The musician was stopped for expired tags in February 2023 and taken into custody one year later after a warrant was issued for his arrest
Darius Rucker has pleaded no contest to drug-related misdemeanor charges of simple possession, casual exchange, and violation of registration law. The musician received a probation sentence of 11 months and 29 days from a judge in Williamson County in Tennessee.
In a statement to WKRN, legal representation for Rucker, attorneys Mark L. Puryear III and Richard N. Gusler, thanked Judge Tom Taylor and the District Attorney’s office “for the time and care taken in considering the details of this case and its final disposition.”
Rucker was taken into custody earlier this year after a warrant was issued for his arrest in December 2023. He was released on a $10,500 bond on the same day. The arrest was connected to a February 2023 police stop when the singer was pulled over for expired license plate tags. “Darius looks forward to working through this probationary period and putting this all behind him,” his attorneys shared.
In July, Rucker told Rolling Stone that the arrest led to a couple of friends checking in on the state of his sobriety. “Yeah, I’m OK. It was something that I had in my car, which I shouldn’t have in my car,” he said. He previously noted in an interview with People that he “had a little bit of pot, and I think a little bit of some mushrooms or something in the car,” but was let go by police.
“The police and everything, they were so great. They treated me with so much respect. Like you said, it’s a misdemeanor — it was reported on like I had three felonies on me or something,” he continued. “But when you’re known as the nice guys and the good guys, when something like that happens, people want to take any chance to knock you down. I accepted it and went on with my life, and the case is still pending, so we can’t talk about it much. But I’m going to accept whatever I get and move on with my life. It took 57 years before I ever saw the inside of a jail cell. That’s just amazing.”