BALTIMORE — An actress who played a Baltimore drug gang assassin in HBO’s “The Wire” pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to distribute heroin, caught by a wiretap in a joint federal-state drug probe of an alleged drug gang.
Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin, a day before her trial was set to begin. Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill accepted the plea, suspending a seven-year sentence with credit for time served and ordering three years of supervised probation with provisions for out-of-state travel for work.
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The plea allows Pearson to move on with her acting career, instead of spending more than a year with charges hanging over her, attorney Benjamin C. Sutley said outside the courthouse.
“I can’t say she would have been found not guilty,” Sutley said. But Pearson interrupted, saying “I would have been found not guilty.”
Pearson was one of 64 people charged in March in “Operation Usual Suspects.” The federal indictment states that since 2008, members of the conspiracy bought heroin from New York and marijuana from California and sold the drugs on the streets of Baltimore. As part of the conspiracy, the indictment alleges, members discussed how those who failed to perform required tasks were dealt with violently.
Pearson was caught on a wiretap conspiring with Shawn Johnson and Jeff Gibbs, who bought heroin in bulk from New York and distributed the drugs in Baltimore, according to a statement of charges read aloud in court by prosecutor Rebecca Finn. Johnson paid Pearson to store drugs and drug proceeds, at her apartment in the city, Finn said.
Loretta Lynn cancels concerts due to knee surgery
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Loretta Lynn has been sidelined by knee surgery.
A statement said the country music icon will cancel dates through a Sept. 3 show at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.
She is scheduled to undergo reconstructive knee surgery and needs time to recover. Lynn said in the statement she’s “sad” to cancel the shows, “but they tell me I’ve just got to stay off this knee for a while.”
Lynn recently returned to live performances with a show at the Grand Ole Opry after being forced to cancel shows in Ohio and Connecticut because she was hospitalized for heat exhaustion. The 76-year-old Country Music Hall of Fame member said she had spent too much time in her garden.
Lynn will try to reschedule the dates.
Swayze film getting redo
LOS ANGELES — “Dirty Dancing” is coming back to the big screen.
Lionsgate said it is remaking the 1987 film that starred Jennifer Grey as a naive dance student and Patrick Swayze as her teacher and lover.
The studio said Monday that Kenny Ortega, who choreographed the original film, will direct the remake.
Ortega said he is eager to discover and cast “the next breakout triple-threats” to define dancing for a generation, the way Swayze did in the original “Dirty Dancing.”
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