Rose McGowan to plead no contest to reduced drug charge

FILE - In this July 21, 2018 file photo, actress and activist Rose McGowan speaks at OZY Fest in Central Park in New York. A lawyer for McGowan says she will plead no contest to a reduced drug charge in Virginia and avoid jail time. Attorney Jim Hundley says the commonwealth agreed to reduce the felony cocaine possession charge to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, and that prosecutors will recommend she pay a fine. McGowan will enter the plea Jan. 15, 2019 the day her trial was to begin. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

LEESBURG, Va. — A lawyer for Rose McGowan says the actress and activist will plead no contest to a reduced drug charge in Virginia and avoid jail time.

Attorney Jim Hundley tells WTOP-FM that the commonwealth agreed to reduce the felony cocaine possession charge to misdemeanour possession of a controlled substance, and that prosecutors will recommend she pay a fine.

Charging documents say cocaine was found in a wallet McGowan left on a plane last year. McGowan had maintained innocence, suggesting in court papers that the drugs were planted at the behest of producer Harvey Weinstein.

Weinstein attorney Ben Brafman called that allegation a “ludicrous claim.”

McGowan was among the first to accuse Weinstein of sexual assault.

McGowan will enter the plea Jan. 15, the day her trial was to begin.

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Information from: WTOP-FM, http://www.wtop.com

The Associated Press