Rose McGowan Has Been Indicted In Virginia For Felony Cocaine Possession


Loudoun County

Actor Rose McGowan was indicted Monday by a grand jury in Virginia for felony possession of cocaine, and could face a year in prison if found guilty.

Metropolitan Washington airport police began investigating McGowan in January 2017 after a wallet she left behind on a flight that arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport tested positive for cocaine. Police issued an arrest warrant the following month, charging McGowan with possession of a controlled substance, a class 5 felony.

McGowan, who has been out on $5,000 bail, has denied the drugs were hers. Her attorney, Jim Hundley, filed a memo with the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s attorney saying they believe the drugs could have been planted in the actor’s wallet.

The lawyer claimed McGowan could not locate her wallet after she got off the January 20 flight, and immediately reported it missing to United Airlines, but that there was a wide gap of time when other people could have had access to the the wallet.

The arrest warrant did not come to light until October, after McGowan and other women went public with allegations of assault against Harvey Weinstein in two bombshell stories published by the New York Times and the New Yorker. Since then, McGowan has remained a vocal advocate of the #MeToo movement.

Weinstein, was charged last month with rape and a criminal sex act against two other women.

McGowan told the New Yorker last fall that while was she has used drugs in the past, and owns stock in a marijuana company, she had “no interest in cocaine,” and that she would plead not guilty. She said that she had flown to DC from Los Angeles on January 20, 2017 for the Women’s March that weekend.

No trial date has been set. McGowan’s representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.

Claudia Rosenbaum is an entertainment reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.

Contact Claudia Rosenbaum at claudia.rosenbaum@buzzfeed.com.

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