George Clinton Pleads No Contest to Drug Charges

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Funk musician George Clinton (search) has pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charges.

Clinton, 63, was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and two years of probation. He was also fined $372 in court costs.

The musician was arrested in December sitting in a car near his Tallahassee recording studio; police said when they approached, he volunteered that he had cocaine in his pocket. He was found with a bag of crack cocaine and a glass pipe, police said.

A felony possession charge was dropped before Wednesday's hearing.

Clinton, who is scheduled to begin a concert tour Aug. 27, hoped to teach free music education courses as part of his community-service work, said his attorney, Matt Willard.

"He's a big supporter of the arts," Willard said.

Clinton pleaded not guilty in December, saying the arrest report was inaccurate and his arrest was unlawful.

Clinton, who has a Tallahassee address, headed the funk bands Parliament (search) and Funkadelic (search) — and the collaboration later known as P-Funk (search) — in the 1970s and 1980s. He's considered a father of the funk and urban music. In 1983, his solo record "Atomic Dog," hit number one on the R&B charts.