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Dubai ruler pardons Grammy-winning producer |
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Written by Mike Stahl
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Tuesday, 04 July 2006 |
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The ruler of Dubai has pardoned a Grammy-winning music producer who had been sentenced to four years in prison on charges of carrying cocaine into the country.
Lawyers for Dallas Austin, 33, had planned to appeal his sentence before Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the pardon on Tuesday. Austin pleaded guilty on Sunday to bringing 1.26 grams of cocaine into Dubai. The producer behind TLC, one of the biggest R&B groups of the 1990s, also faced deportation once his sentence in the United Arab Emirates has been served. The New York Daily News reported in late June that Austin has been held in Dubai since May 19, when he was arrested at the airport en route to a birthday party for British supermodel Naomi Campbell at one of the country's hotels. The U.S. State Department had earlier warned that the UAE's strict anti-drug laws can bring sentences of up to 15 years for simple possession. Full Story
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