Romanian Court Sentences Wiz Khalifa to Nine Months in Drug Case

Wiz Khalifa performs during a live concert in 2023. The rapper was later sentenced by a Romanian court in connection with cannabis use during a 2024 festival appearance in Costinești. (Photo by Rickmunroe01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Wiz Khalifa’s habit of lighting up onstage has long been treated as part of the show. In Romania, it became a criminal case — and, this week, the court issued its final ruling.

The Pittsburgh rapper, born Cameron Jibril Thomaz, was sentenced to nine months in prison by Romania’s Constanța Court of Appeal, which overturned an earlier penalty stemming from his July 2024 detention at the “Beach, Please!” music festival in Costinești. The ruling, issued Monday and entered into the court registry, followed an appeal by Romanian prosecutors and marked the conclusion of a case that began when Khalifa smoked cannabis during his live set.

According to court documents and a translated statement from Romania’s Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism, known as DIICOT, Khalifa was found to have possessed more than 18 grams of cannabis and to have consumed additional marijuana onstage in the form of a handmade cigarette. Under Romanian law, cannabis is classified as a “dangerous drug,” and public possession and use remain criminal offenses regardless of quantity.

Police allowed Khalifa to complete his performance before taking him into custody. He was detained briefly, questioned and released, and prosecutors later initiated criminal proceedings for illegal possession of dangerous drugs for personal use.

In the initial trial, a lower court imposed a criminal fine of 3,600 lei, roughly $800 at the time. DIICOT appealed that sentence, arguing it failed to reflect the seriousness of the offense under Romania’s drug statutes. The appellate court agreed, partially vacating the original ruling and imposing a nine-month prison sentence, to be served in detention, while leaving other aspects of the judgment intact.

The decision is final under Romanian law.

 

What the ruling does not immediately mean is just as important as what it does. Khalifa was not taken into custody this week, nor have Romanian authorities announced steps related to extradition, enforcement abroad or international arrest warrants. The sentence was pronounced by making it available through the registry rather than in Khalifa’s physical presence, a procedural detail common in Romanian appellate cases involving foreign defendants.

Legal experts note that cross-border enforcement of such sentences can be complex and often hinges on bilateral agreements, prosecutorial discretion and future travel. None of those questions were addressed in the ruling itself, and Romanian officials emphasized that Khalifa benefited from full procedural rights and the presumption of innocence throughout the case.

Still, the judgment stands as a rare example of a global rap star receiving a custodial sentence overseas for conduct that, in much of the United States, would no longer raise eyebrows — let alone criminal charges.

The case also underscores the cultural disconnect between hip-hop performance norms and international drug laws. Cannabis remains central to Khalifa’s public image and music, woven into lyrics, branding and decades of live shows. But Romanian law makes no exception for celebrity, context or stage persona.

Since the incident, Khalifa has not publicly commented on the appeal ruling. At the time of his arrest in 2024, Romanian authorities made clear that his status as a foreign artist did not alter the legal framework governing the case.

Bronx Drill Rapper Kay Flock Gets 30-Year Sentence in Racketeering Case

Kay Flock, born Kevin Perez, is shown in a photo shared on social media. The Bronx drill rapper was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in federal prison after being convicted on racketeering and attempted murder charges tied to a series of gang-related shootings.

For a brief moment, Kay Flock looked like the next voice to break out of the Bronx’s drill scene — a raw, volatile presence whose videos racked up millions of views and whose name moved fast through New York rap circles. On Tuesday, that ascent ended in a federal courtroom.

The Bronx rapper, born Kevin Perez, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role as the leader of a gang prosecutors said carried out a series of shootings that terrorized neighborhoods between 2020 and 2021. Perez, 22, was convicted earlier this year on racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, along with a firearm offense, following a two-week trial in U.S. District Court.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman, who imposed the sentence, said Perez “taunted, celebrated, and created a culture of violence,” adding that the harm caused by his actions “was immense,” according to court records.

Federal prosecutors described Perez as the leader of a Bronx-based gang known as Sev Side/DOA — shorthand for “Dumping on Anything” or “Dead on Arrival” — operating around East 187th Street. According to the indictment and trial evidence, the group used violence to defend territory, elevate its reputation and increase members’ status, while funding itself through bank and wire fraud schemes that later supported Perez’s music career.

“Kevin Perez used violence and fame to fuel fear and intimidation across the Bronx,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement announcing the sentence. “Perez and his gang members carried out a string of shootings that struck both rival gang members and innocent bystanders.”

Prosecutors tied Perez to multiple shootings during a roughly 18-month span. Among them was a June 20, 2020, attack in which a rival was shot in the jaw and several others were wounded. Days later, Perez appeared in a music video that investigators said referenced the shooting. Additional attempted murders in June 2020, August 2020 and November 2021 were also presented at trial, with evidence showing multiple victims were struck by gunfire.

Clayton said Perez used his platform as a rising drill rapper to amplify the violence, releasing songs and videos — some drawing millions of views — that “threatened his rivals, bragged about his shootings, and taunted his victims.” Prosecutors argued the music and online posts helped spark retaliatory violence that rippled through the Bronx.

In addition to the prison sentence, Perez was ordered to serve five years of supervised release after completing his term.

Donna Summer’s Songwriting Legacy Honored With Hall of Fame Induction

Donna Summer performs during the inaugural gala at the Washington Convention Center on Jan. 19, 1985, in Washington, D.C. Long remembered as the defining voice of disco, Summer was also a prolific songwriter whose work reshaped dance music, pop and R&B — a legacy now recognized with her posthumous induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. (White House Photographic Office via the National Archives)

Donna Summer is headed to the Songwriters Hall of Fame — a place longtime fans have argued she belonged all along, even when the disco backlash tried to pretend her pen didn’t matter.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced Summer’s posthumous induction following an intimate ceremony held on Monday in The Butterfly Room at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood, California.

The Hall rarely honors songwriters after their death, reserving posthumous inductions for moments when an artist’s influence has not faded with time but grown clearer with distance, a distinction that fits Summer, whose songwriting has increasingly been reassessed as foundational rather than decorative.

If Summer is still too often introduced as “the voice of disco,” the Hall’s framing quietly corrects the record. She wrote many of the songs that made her unavoidable, including “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “Bad Girls,” “Dim All the Lights,” “On the Radio,” “Heaven Knows,” “She Works Hard for the Money,” “Spring Affair” and “This Time I Know It’s for Real,” among others. Those records didn’t just soundtrack an era — they helped reshape pop structure, dance music, and how female artists claimed authorship in spaces that often denied it.

The induction was led by Paul Williams, the Academy Award-winning songwriter and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee whose own catalog spans pop, film and Broadway. Williams framed Summer not as a genre figure, but as a writer whose work permanently altered how emotion, rhythm and melody coexist in popular music.

“Donna Summer is not only one of the defining voices and performers of the 20th century; she is one of the great songwriters of all time who changed the course of music,” Williams said in a statement released by the Hall. He added that her songs “continue to captivate our souls and imaginations, inspiring the world to dance and, above all, feel love.”

Summer, who died in 2012 at 63, was represented at the ceremony by her family, including her husband, Bruce Sudano, and daughters Brooklyn Sudano and Amanda Sudano Ramirez. In a message shared with the Hall, Sudano spoke directly to the recognition Summer valued most, and didn’t always receive in real time.

“With all the accolades that she received over her career, being respected as a songwriter was always the thing that she felt was overlooked,” Sudano said. “So for her to be accepted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame I know that she’s very happy… somewhere.”