An appeals court in Romania has sentenced American rapper Wiz Khalifa to nine months in prison after ruling that he smoked cannabis during a live performance at a major music festival.
The artist, whose real name is Thomaz Cameron Jibril, admitted to smoking a joint while on stage at the Beach, Please! festival in Costinesti last year. The Constanța appeals court overturned an earlier penalty of 3,600 Romanian lei, determining that a prison sentence was more appropriate given the public nature of the act.
In its ruling, the court said Khalifa’s actions sent a harmful message that could encourage drug use among young people, especially considering the large youth audience in attendance at the festival.
The sentence was delivered in Khalifa’s absence. Since the incident, the rapper has remained active in the United States, recently performing in California and posting updates on social media.
According to Romanian authorities, Khalifa was found in possession of more than 18 grams of cannabis and admitted to using some of it during the performance.
