Willie Nelson Won’t Sing for His Sentence

Willie Nelson can't use his legendary voice to get out of drug charges after all. It was reported earlier this week that the judge in the case of the country icon's latest marijuana arrest said that if Willie sings his hit, 'Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,' in the courtroom and pays a $100 fine, all will be forgiven. It turns out, that was just a joke ... or so the now red-faced judge and attorneys claim.

Texas Judge Becky Dean-Walker told the Associated Press the idea was a joke that "got out of hand." Hudspeth County Attorney C.R. "Kit" Bramblett was apparently frustrated that Judge Dean-Walker would not allow Willie to plead by mail and was insisting he show up to court in person. So, Bramblett came up with his own "sentence" in jest, alleging that the judge's motives were simply to meet Willie. Not true, the judge tells the Associated Press, clarifying that Willie can indeed plead by mail.

Willie was arrested on November 26 after Border Patrol agents smelled pot wafting from his tour bus at a checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas.

"I had been in California hanging out for a while, and my bus had come out to pick me up because we had a couple of tour dates. I had forgotten that there was this little bag of weed on the bus that had been in the back there for weeks when I had been gone," Willie told Rolling Stone at the time. "Naturally, when they stopped us, the dogs came on and the first thing they went to was that little bag of pot."

A similar 1994 charge against Willie was dropped.

Willie's next concert is March 31 in Columbus, Ohio. For more concert information, check here.