Rapper Jim Jones can’t stay away from the Manhattan courts — he was back today rejecting a deal where he could have resolved a misdemeanor driving charge by paying a $500 fine.
“I’m trying to stay out of this place,” the performer joked as he left Manhattan Criminal Court. He’d been stopped in SoHo last month while driving his 2011 Bentley down a Broadway bus lane — and when cops ran his license it came up as suspended.
A year and a half ago, Jones pled guilty in the same courthouse to misdemeanor assault for a scuffle with a friend of R&B singer Ne-Yo at a Louis Vuitton store on Fifth Avenue.
Just last month, Jones was sued two courthouses away — in Manhattan Supreme Court — by two Texas women who claimed he didn’t have their permission to broadcast video of them cavorting topless on a Miami beach. The rapper had used the frolicksome footage in his “Summertime” video.
“He believed he had a valid license,” his lawyer, Marianne Bertuna, said after court. “Sometimes, if you’re traveling as he does, and you miss a notice about an outstanding fine, they suspend you automatically.”
Jones joked that he had no idea why he rejected the DA’s request that he plead guilty to misdemeanor driving without a license and pay a $500 fine.
“I have no idea what’s going on!” he said, laughing. “What my lawyer said to do, I do. That’s what I pay lawyers for.”
Bertuna said she hopes the matter will be resolved with a plea to a traffic infraction on Jones’ next court date, June 15.