Laith Al-Saadi (Facebook photo)
The upside of fame is it helps open the doors of opportunity. The downside is that every little mess can make the news.
William Perkins of The Gaylord Herald Times in northern Michigan reports that Laith Al-Saadi, 40, the Ann Arbor musician who was a finalist on Season 10 of "The Voice," faces three counts of narcotics possession after troopers from the Michigan State Police Gaylord post stopped him driving near Gaylord last month.
He was arrested at about 6:20 p.m. Feb. 11, after troopers saw him driving a 2016 Nissan Pathfinder with an expired license plate, the paper reports. When talking to him, a trooper smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.
Police found a backpack in the back seat that contained 12 grams of marijuana, as well as a number of other drugs such as hydrocodone, morphine sulphate and fentanyl — an opioid that can often be 50 times more powerful than heroin, the paper reports. He was taken to the Otsego County Jail.
Troopers also arrested a female passenger for narcotics possession.
Al-Saadi is facing three counts of narcotics possession equaling less than 25 grams, according to the Otsego County Courts website. That means, under Michigan law, he could receive a penalty of up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
Al-Saadi's lawyer, Michael Komorn, indicated the drugs were for medical issues, the paper reports.
"Laith has suffered from chronic pain for many years," he said in a statement to the Herald Times. "He is currently under a physician’s care for treatment of his debilitating severe and chronic pain. We appreciate the outpouring of concern from his fans and want to ensure the public that this is a medical issue that Laith is addressing with his physicians. We hope the public respects his privacy and his family’s privacy in this regard, any other issues we will address in court.”
We first saw this story in the Metro Times.
