The 'Crabs in a Bucket' hip-hop artist has been handed 28 months in prison after he was charged for drugs and money laundering following arrest for importing cannabis.
- Oct 2, 2021
AceShowbiz - Rapper Nines has been sentenced to serve 28 months behind bars for importing cannabis into the U.K. from Spain and Poland.
The "Airplane Mode" hitmaker, real name Courtney Freckleton, and an associate, Jason Thompson, previously pleaded guilty to drugs and money laundering charges.
Sentencing them at Harrow Crown Court, Judge Rosa Dean said, "What a waste of all of that talent, to be sat in Wormwood Scrubs (prison)."
Nines topped the U.K. albums chart in 2020 with his record "Crabs in a Bucket", and picked up the Best Hip Hop Act at the MOBO Awards.
The rapper and Thompson were arrested in June (21) following a series of police raids.
The duo admitted to conspiracy to import drugs but they denied two further counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis. Prosecutors later dropped those two charges.
The musician said he was "deeply ashamed" at having let people down and insisted he had a "great heart" as he mentioned his charity works in Brent and across London.
The judge responded by calling his character references "some of the best [they]'ve ever read."
"After that success I could have been anywhere in the world," he previously said in a 2020 interview with The Guardian. "I could have booked a flight and been chilling on a beach, but I'm hanging on the estate every day."
"I always wanted to take the hood with me and help everyone out," so he explained. "I wanted to make the ends feel part of it."