 MIAMI (Soul & Rythm Music News Website) - Drug charges against Dionne Warwick were dropped Wednesday after a Miami-Dade County judge agreed to a plea bargain deal, which included a drug treatment program. The singer, who was not in court, was arrested May 12 at Miami International Airport after baggage screeners said they found 11 suspected marijuana cigarettes inside her lipstick container.
Her lawyer, H.T. Smith, presented the plea deal to Judge Loree Schwartz Feiler. "To this day, I am puzzled about exactly what happened at the Miami International Airport," Warwick said in a statement. "But through the grace of God, I can now put this unpleasant chapter behind me."
As part of the agreement, Warwick has completed a drug treatment and evaluation program and made a $250 donation to Project Cradle, an organization that supports children born with HIV. The entertainer also is required to make an anti-drug public service announcement directed at youth, said Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office. Warwick, 61, of Miami Beach, was charged with possession of less than 5 grams of marijuana. She signed an affidavit promising to appear in court and was released. She was about to board a flight for Los Angeles when screeners conducted a hand check of her carryon bag and found the suspicious items, police said. A police report indicated she was not under the influence of drugs at the time.
The five-time Grammy winner had attended a Hollywood, Fla., reception the day before her arrest to receive a lifetime achievement award from The American Red Ribbon Awards, an HIV/AIDS service organization in Broward County.
Warwick, a cousin to singer Whitney Houston, became famous in the 1960s for songs such as "Walk on By" and "I Say a Little Prayer."
More recently she has been a spokeswoman for the Psychic Friends Network. Houston was involved in a similar incident two years ago, when airport security in Hawaii said they found a half-ounce of marijuana in her bag. A misdemeanor charge against her was dismissed after a substance abuse assessment filed on her behalf said she did not require treatment for drug abuse.
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