MUSIC LEGEND FINED IN MARIJUANA CASE

ST. MARTINVILLE -- Country music legend Willie Nelson and his tour
manager were ordered to pay $1,024 each and were sentenced to six
months of probation after pleading guilty to possession of marijuana
here Tuesday.

Nelson, tour manager David Anderson, Nelson's sister and two of the
singer's tour bus drivers were cited on misdemeanor drug charges in
September while traveling on Interstate 10 through St. Martin Parish.

State Police investigators said they found 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana
and a small amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms in a search prompted
by a "strong odor of marijuana" during a routine motor coach
inspection stop of his tour bus.

Nelson and Anderson, both of Texas, entered their guilty pleas on a
regular court day in St. Martinville, arriving with their attorney a
few minutes before the plea hearing and taking seats at the front of
a courtroom filled with other defendants.

Sixteenth Judicial District Judge Paul deMahy asked Nelson the same
questions routine for all guilty pleas, as the singer stood before the judge.

Name?

"Willie Hugh Nelson."

Age?

"I was born in 1933."

Occupation?

"I'm an entertainer."

Can you read?

"Yes, sir."

The $1,024 in penalties and fees imposed on Nelson and Anderson
include court costs, $500 in fines, a $50 fee for courthouse security
and $75 to reimburse the Acadiana Crime Lab for tests that confirmed
the green leafy substance found on the tour bus was indeed marijuana.

The $500 fine was the maximum allowed for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

The judge also handed down 90-day suspended jail sentences, which
could be imposed if the singer or his tour manager get in legal
trouble again during the six months of unsupervised probation.

Nelson could have faced felony distribution charges because of the
large amount of marijuana involved, but prosecutor Chester Cedars
said the evidence indicated the marijuana was for personal use.

"Without a doubt, this is not a case of distribution," Cedars said.

He said the marijuana was found stashed in five or six locations on the bus.

Nelson admitted to ownership of some of the marijuana but was unsure
who owned the remainder, Cedars said.

He said investigators believe some of the drugs might have been left
on the bus by people coming and going from the vehicle during a tour
stop in Montgomery, Ala.

Nelson had just played a gig there with another country music legend,
Ray Price, and was returning to his home in Texas when the bus was
stopped near Breaux Bridge.

Word that a country music legend was in this small southern Louisiana
town quickly spread Tuesday after Nelson's arrival at the courthouse
just before 10 a.m.

A crowd of about 25 fans gathered outside to see Nelson after his
brief court appearance. They waited with cell-phone cameras and
scraps of paper scrounged for a signature.

He obliged the audience, taking a few moments to shake hands, sign
autographs and pose for pictures.

"Thank y'all," he said, waving as he climbed into a car waiting in a
parking spot marked: "Reserved District Attorney Staff."

The small group cheered as Nelson pulled away.

One woman yelled out, "Go Willie!"

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed charges against
Nelson's sister, Bobbie Nelson, who, like her brother, is in her 70s.
"I agreed to do that given her age and the totality of the
circumstances," Cedars said.

Cedars said he also dismissed charges against the two bus drivers.

"We had no evidence they had anything to do with the contraband,"
Cedars said. "State Police had no reason to believe they were under
the influence."

A criminal background check indicated that Nelson, who has made no
secret of his marijuana use, had never before been convicted on a
drug charge, according to Cedars.

"We did something apparently nobody else has done," he said.

The prosecutor said that Nelson received no special treatment from
his office and paid a stiffer fine than most others convicted of a
misdemeanor drug charge.

"We assessed this case as we would any other case," Cedars said. "We
charged him as we would anybody else."