Lil Wayne indicted in Yuma

Rapper Lil Wayne has been indicted by a Yuma County grand jury on felony drug and weapons charges.

Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., was charged with one count each of possession of a narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the indictment.

In Arizona, if someone is charged with a crime, an indictment, which is a formal accusation of having committed a criminal offense, will be issued during the person's arraignment.

After that, either a preliminary hearing will be scheduled or the case will be sent to a grand jury to determine whether there is enough probability to move forward with the indictment.

Carter's case was sent to a Yuma County grand jury, which upheld the four-count indictment.

While the prosecution has to convince a judge during a preliminary hearing that there is probable cause to believe that a crime was committed and that the defendant committed it, the jurors on the grand jury make that decision.

Carter pleaded not guilty at a court hearing Friday. His attorney, James Tilson, said Tuesday that Carter's legal team plans to look at the state's evidence and figure out if any motions need to be filed. Meanwhile, Carter was continuing to keep his concert schedule.

"He is currently touring as we speak,'' Tilson said.

Carter's next scheduled court appearance will be a March 7 status hearing.

The rapper's tour bus was stopped Jan. 22 at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Dateland, 78 miles east of Yuma.

A search of the bus by Drug Enforcement Administration agents yielded nearly four ounces of marijuana, just over an ounce of cocaine, 41 grams of Ecstasy and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia. DEA agents then arrested Carter.

Officials also found a .40-caliber pistol registered to Carter, who has a concealed weapons permit in Florida.

In October, Carter and several other rappers were named in a federal lawsuit filed by music publishing companies, accusing them of sampling other artists' songs without paying licensing fees.