Singer James DeBarge, ex-husband to Janet Jackson, arrested for drug possession

[April 26, 2014]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — R&B singer James DeBarge, who was briefly married to Janet Jackson in the 1980s, was arrested for drug possession in Los Angeles, police said on Friday.

Police took DeBarge, 50, into custody on Thursday on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine, said Los Angeles police spokeswoman Officer Norma Eisenman.

Eisenman could release no further details on his arrest, but DeBarge was listed as being held with no bail at a Los Angeles Police Department jail.

In 2011, DeBarge was convicted in Los Angeles County of possession of a controlled substance, according to the local District Attorney's Office.

A representative for DeBarge could not be located.

He was part of the sibling group DeBarge, a Motown act that in the 1980s had hits with songs such as "Rhythm of the Night" and "Who's Holding Donna Now?"

In 1984, he married singer Janet Jackson, the sister of Michael Jackson, but the marriage was annulled the following year.

Last month, DeBarge was photographed going for lunch in Beverly Hills with Conrad Murray, the former personal physician to Michael Jackson who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the pop superstar's 2009 death from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Bernard Orr)

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