Rapper Wiz Khalifa sentenced to jail in Romania for drug possession after ‘lighting up at pageant’
Wiz Khalifa has been sentence to nine months in prison after he was said to have lit a joint while dancing to The Next Episode, with the US musician expected to appeal
Wiz Khalifa has been sentenced to nine months in prison in Romania after being caught in possession of marijuana. The rapper, who is set to appeal the sentence, was said to have lit up a joint while dancing to Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre’s tune ‘The Next Episode’ at a festival in Costinești.
Khalifa – real name Thomaz Cameron Jibril – was sentenced on Thursday after Romania’s Constanța Court of Appeal upheld an appeal against his initial punishment, according to TMZ.
The appeal was filed by DIICOT Constanța Territorial Service, an anti-organised crime prosecutor’s office in the Eastern European country, after a previous citation fined the 38-year-old US musician 3,000 lei (around £516).
Khalifa is said to be hopeful of coming to an agreement over an alternative solution to the sentence. The charge comes after he was arrested in 2024, when he was briefly held following his performance at Costinești’s Beach Please! festival.
At the festival, the star is said to have lit a joint while enjoying The Next Episode by Dre and Snoop Dogg.
Drug laws are very strict in Romana compared to other European countries, reports The Mirror. Cannabis possession for both recreational and medical use is illegal, and being caught is punishable by prison sentences between three months and two years. Fines are also possible.
A statement from prosecutors DIICOT regarding the incident at the time said: “During a performance at a music festival held in Costinești, the accused was found to have possessed more than 18 grams of cannabis and to have consumed (on stage) another quantity in the form of a handmade cigarette.”
Khalifa took to social media the day after his arrest, posting on X ( Twitter ): “Last nights show was amazing. I didn’t mean any disrespect to the country of Romania by lighting up on stage.
“They were very respectful and let me go. I’ll be back soon. But without a big a*s joint next time [sic].”
Khalifa often refers to his use of cannabis in the lyrics to his songs. Legal cannabis companies in the US often source celebrity endorsements and funding from stars such as Khalifa and Snoop Dogg who openly use marijuana, with Hollywood star Seth Rogen and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson also providing support and promotion.
Khalifa has openly discussed his drug use in the past, telling Vice in 2017 that smoking “frees my mind” and makes his creative ideas “more vivid”.
He said: “I’m able to just relax and be free. I like to smoke before, during, and after I’m making music.”
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