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Bo Bice, 29, the Southern rocker from Helena, Ala., was arrested in 2001 for felony cocaine possession and was busted again for marijuana possession in 2003, but the charges were dismissed after he completed a diversion program, the Smoking Gun Web site reports.
FOX, which airs Idol, is standing behind Bice. The network issued a statement Thursday saying: "From the beginning, Bo was honest and forthcoming in revealing his previous indiscretions and their outcome." His participation with the show will be unaffected.
Bice was first busted in June 2001 by Huntsville, Ala., cops, according to a warrant posted on the site. But when a Huntsville police investigator didn't show up for Bice's preliminary hearing on August 29, 2001, Judge Susan Moquin dismissed the case, according to a court docket.
After prosecutors prepared to re-file the felony count, Bice opted to enter a drug diversion program. But he didn't complete the program until after he was busted again -- this time in 2003 on charges of marijuana possession, public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records obtained by the Smoking Gun.
All of the charges were dismissed last year.
Bice is only the latest of several Idol contestant to have a rap sheet. Current finalist Scott Savol was arrested in 2001 on a charge of felony domestic violence after allegedly roughing up his infant son's mother. Idol's 2004 finalist Donnie Williams was arrested on suspicion of DUI; Frenchie Davis, on the show in 2003, was discovered to have posed on an adult Web site; and finalist Corey Clark and semifinalist Jaered Andrews both had previous arrest records.
