Kodak Black is asking a judge to dismiss his pending drug charges in Florida after lab tests proved the white substance collected during his recent arrest was the prescription painkiller oxycodone, not cocaine. In a sworn motion filed Monday in Broward County, defense lawyer Brad Cohen says the multiplatinum-selling rapper had a legal prescription at the time of his arrest on December 7, 2023, so his charges should be stricken.
Black, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, has been locked up in the case for weeks. Cohen plans to argue for his release at a bond hearing Friday, but even if the state judge grants the request, Kapri wouldn’t walk out the door. Cohen would then pivot to federal court, where the state case triggered hearings on the possible revocation of Black’s federal supervised release linked back to his 2019 conviction for making a false statement during a firearms purchase.
Cohen tells Rolling Stone that the state case amounts to an “abuse of power” with unfair cascading consequences. The arrest report notes that Kapri clearly and willingly advised his arresting officer, Plantation Police Officer Adam Stern, that the white substance was Percocet. Despite that assurance, Stern claimed in his report that the substance “field tested positive on scene for cocaine.” Stern also alleged Kapri tried to hide the powder after he was found asleep at the wheel of his black Bentley outside Fort Lauderdale. Stern also took the step of going to federal court on Dec. 19 and testifying against Kapri there, leading a judge to order the rapper’s detainment pending a larger hearing on revocation of his federal supervised release.
When the lab tests eventually came back negative for cocaine, the Broward County State Attorney charged Kapri with illegal oxycodone possession instead. Cohen claims that was an abuse as well. “I spoke with them before they filed the case. I told them it was going to come back as oxycodone. People don’t fall asleep taking cocaine. I told them I will provide you with a valid prescript for oxycodone. They never returned my phone call. It shows a real bias, and that’s not what our justice system is about,” Cohen says.
“Prosecutors will review any documentation or prescriptions the defense wishes to provide at any time,” Broward County State Attorney spokesperson Paula McMahon told Rolling Stone Monday. “Speaking generally and not specifically about this case, there is a detailed legal process required to verify the validity of prescriptions.” McMahon stressed two weeks ago that prosecutors only filed charges after the lab test results were received. “Police arrested him on suspected cocaine possession. Our office did not file that charge,” McMahon said in the prior email.
Shortly after Kapri was handcuffed and arrested Dec. 7, Cohen filed a motion to suppress what he described as the “unlawful investigatory stop and arrest.” He said Kapri wasn’t actually blocking traffic when he was detained on a residential block near the Fort Lauderdale Country Club in Plantation. Cohen wrote that the first officer failed to “blow his horn or otherwise request” that Kapri move his vehicle before initiating the encounter.
Cohen further blasted the officer’s handling of the arrest and his testimony to the federal court. “The cop says crack cocaine, and it turned out to be oxycodone. I don’t know how an error like that happens. I’ve never seen in my career of 27 years where an officer tested an oxycodone pill, and it came back positive for cocaine. This officer was either grossly neglectful, incompetent or a liar. It’s one of those three,” Cohen previously told Rolling Stone. “I’m going to ask for an internal investigation of this officer and his testimony, which is incredulous.” The lawyer said there also was no body-worn camera video from the arrest, which he called “disgusting.”
Kapri, 26, was about halfway through a three-year federal prison sentence for falsifying paperwork used to buy weapons at a Miami gun store when then-President Donald Trump commuted the sentence on his last day in office in January 2021. The commutation, supported by Gucci Mane, Lil Pump and Lil Yachty, noted Kodak’s philanthropic endeavors, including his penchant for handing out school supplies and food to Florida residents in need.
In a separate Broward County case, Kapri is fighting charges he was trafficking oxycodone when he was pulled over in July 2022 with white tablets and nearly $75,000 cash in his vehicle. Prosecutors allege he was trafficking between 14 and 25 grams of oxycodone. A defense motion for dismissal of that case argues authorities mishandled evidence and that some of the tablets tested as acetaminophen. Kapri was out on bond when he was ordered to enter a drug rehab facility for 30 days last year because he tested positive for fentanyl on Feb. 8, 2023.