Rappers arraigned on felony gun charges

Top-selling rappers Ja Rule and Lil Wayne were arraigned on felony gun charges Monday following their separate arrests after a hip-hop concert at which both had performed. A judge set high bails and bonds for the rappers and two other men, but the defendants were expected to be freed immediately, their bonds secured by Ja Rule's $3.5 million house in New Jersey, bail bondsman Ira Judelson said. Ja Rule, of Saddle Brook, N.J., and two men with him were stopped for speeding around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and a police computer check of their 2004 Maybach luxury car revealed it had no insurance and a suspended registration, prosecutors said. When police stopped the car, which costs about $250,000 to $400,000, they "detected a strong odor of marijuana," prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon told the court. A loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun was recovered from the rear driver's-side door, she said. Lil Wayne, who is from New Orleans but lives in Miami, was arrested around 11:30 p.m. while dressing in a tour bus near the Beacon Theater, where the rappers had performed, Illuzzi-Orbon said. Approaching police officers smelled marijuana, and as they got closer Lil Wayne, 24, tossed aside a bag that contained a loaded .40-caliber handgun, she said. Police believed that another person, so far uncharged, had stuffed 7 pounds of marijuana down the bus' toilet as officers approached, prosecutors said. All the defendants were charged with second-degree illegal gun possession. The judge set bond at $150,000 for Ja Rule, 31, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, and at $70,000 for Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter. He set bond at $20,000 for Mohamed Gamal, Ja Rule's driver and limo service owner, and at $150,000 for Dennis Cherry, Ja Rule's road manager. Ja Rule, 31, rose to fame in the mid-1990s after appearing on a hit song with Jay-Z and later went on to record platinum-selling solo albums.

Kelly Clarkson has done a lot of talking about reports of a feud with Clive Davis over the direction of her new album, "My December." Now, she's apologizing. "I want to set the record straight on this by saying that I want my band, my advisers, those close to me and my record label to be one big, tightly knit family," the 25-year-old singer said Monday in a statement posted on her Web site. "Like any family, we will disagree and argue sometimes but, in the end, it's respect and admiration that will keep us together." For months, Clarkson has weathered -- and also fueled in candid interviews -- reports of a battle with Davis, who oversees her record label, RCA, over the direction of "My December," which was released June 26. "A lot has been made in the press about my relationship with Clive," the former "American Idol" said in her statement. "Much of this has been blown way out of proportion and out of context." "Contrary to recent characterizations in the press, I'm well aware that Clive is one of the great record men of all time," her statement said. "He has been a key adviser and has been an important force in my success to date." Clarkson, who co-wrote every track on "My December," gives Davis kudos for releasing the album when he wasn't obligated to do so. "I really regret how this has turned out, and I apologize to those whom I have done disservice," she said. "I would never intentionally hurt anyone. I love music, and I love the people I am blessed to work with." "My December" -- which has yet to produce a hit single -- is No. 5 on Billboard's 200 top albums chart; it arrived at No. 2.

Mindy McCready is free on $1,000 bond after a weekend arrest in Fort Myers, Fla., on misdemeanor charges that she scratched her mother on the face during a scuffle and resisted sheriff's deputies, authorities said. McCready's mother, Melody Inge, called Lee County sheriff's deputies shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday to report the 31-year-old country singer was intoxicated and causing a disturbance, an arrest report said. The report said McCready scratched Inge on the face during the disturbance. McCready denied attacking her mother and told the News-Press of Fort Myers that deputies used excessive force in the arrest. A booking photo shows a cut on McCready's nose, which the arrest report said she suffered "as she continued to struggle and resist arrest." "I was holding my baby at the time," said McCready of her 15-month-old son. "They tackled me. They didn't give any directions. They just tackled. There was no reason for it. To take down a woman holding a baby, it's just not right." Sheriff's Sgt. Larry King said a deputy took McCready's baby and another wrestled McCready to the ground. Capt. Tom Eberhardt said McCready also caused a disturbance in the jail and was subdued with pepper spray. McCready had a hit in 1996 with "Guys Do It All the Time," but has struggled in recent years, beginning with a 2004 conviction for fraudulently obtaining prescription painkillers. She was on probation for that offense when she was charged with driving under the influence in 2005. She was found not guilty of the DUI charge but guilty of driving on a suspended license. She then pleaded guilty to violating her probation but has petitioned to withdraw that plea. A Circuit Court hearing on the probation violation charge is scheduled Sept. 7 in Williamson County, a suburb of Nashville, Tenn. McCready's attorney, Lee Dryer, didn't answer calls made by The Associated Press to his cell phone Monday, though information from the Williamson County Court Clerk showed Dryer had withdrawn as her lawyer.