Jim Jones Admits Driving Bentley With Suspended License in NY

Rapper Jim Jones pleaded guilty Thursday to driving his Bentley with a suspended license.

The hip-hop artist and actor, whose "We Fly High" was one of 2007's top-selling rap tracks, admitted to a traffic misdemeanor and was fined $200.

Jones was pulled over March 30, telling police he was heading to a video shoot, according to court documents.

The rapper hadn't realized his license had been suspended over a traffic ticket he hadn't fully paid, said his lawyer, Marianne E. Bertuna.

"If it was as simple as paying a fine, he would have. He just didn't know about it" and has since cleared it up, she said.

Jones wanted to resolve the case to get on with his career and a charity project, Bertuna said. He has worked with the Entertainers 4 Education Alliance, a New York-based group that harnesses celebrities' star power to promote education and social commitment to young people.

The rapper, born Joseph Jones, is one of the Diplomats, a Harlem-based rap crew that also counts Cam'ron, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey among its members. Besides "We Fly High," his hits include "Pop Champagne." He released a new album, Capo, in April.

Jones, 35, also appears on the VH1 reality show "Love & Hip Hop," has a T-shirt line and starred in 2009's "Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones," a play about his life on the road and on the streets.

Jones has said he's doing his best to stay out of the Manhattan criminal courthouse, where he pleaded guilty in 2009 to a misdemeanor assault charge for punching one of R&B star Ne-Yo's friends in a dust-up at a Louis Vuitton boutique. He was sentenced to time served — the few hours he was in custody after turning himself in to police.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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