Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Drayton, is due in court later this month after being indicted on a felony charge. The charge stems from a traffic stop in 2014. According to court documents, Drayton was driving with a suspended license. He also faces a speeding violation, and two misdemeanors for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. USA Today reported that Drayton was in possession of a small amount of marijuana at the time of his arrest. Authorities also recently discovered that Drayton had sixteen current suspensions on his driver’s license.
The rap star has been in and out of jail numerous times for incidents related to substance abuse. In 1991, Drayton served thirty days in jail after pleading guilty to assault charges. Drayton allegedly assaulted his former girlfriend, Karen Ross. Two years later, Drayton was charged with attempted murder for shooting at his neighbor. He served ninety days in jail for his crime. Following his attempted murder case, Drayton was charged with cocaine and marijuana possession, along with a domestic violence charge. He later went to rehab for an addiction to crack cocaine.
Drayton managed to avoid any legal issues for almost ten years, until he was arrested for driving with a suspended license in 2002. The rap icon had to serve nine weeks in Rikers Island jail. Once again, Drayton didn’t face any serious legal woes for almost five years. Unfortunately, he went back to jail for driving violations. Drayton was arrested on four misdemeanor warrants. His charges included driving without a license, driving without car insurance, and several parking violations. During a radio interview, he admitted that his drug addiction got so bad at one point, he was spending up to $2600 a day on crack cocaine. In 2012, Drayton was arrested on felony charges stemming from a domestic dispute.
Flavor Flav is most-known for being a member of the legendary group Public Enemy, and he popularized the role of a hype man. Flav was out of the spotlight for a number of years before appearing on several reality shows on VH1. Flavor Flav starred in VH1’s The Surreal Life, Strange Love, and Flavor of Love. His most successful show, Flavor of Love, aired for three seasons.