POP/ROCK - July 21, 1988

Jonathon (Chico) DeBarge has pleaded innocent in Grand Rapids, Mich., to charges he was involved in a cocaine trafficking ring--just a week after the pop singer was dropped from an anti-drug telethon. DeBarge, 22, was arraigned Monday on the charges; if convicted, he faces life imprisonment and a $4-million fine. U.S. Magistrate Hugh W. Brenneman Jr. allowed DeBarge to remain free on a $400,000 bail pending a pretrial conference in two weeks. Robert DeBarge, Jonathon’s brother, was arrested last week in California on similar charges but is to be freed on a $50,000 bail. Last weekend, Jonathon DeBarge was dropped from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department anti-drug telethon.