Warrant Issued for Making the Band Star  7/19/07

Former Da Band rapper Chopper Young City is a wanted man - after a Baltimore, Maryland judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

The troubled hip-hop star, who was discovered on Sean 'Diddy' Combs' reality TV show Making The Band, has been accused of violating his probation stemming from an armed robbery conviction.

The rapper, real name Kevin Barnes, was convicted in March (07) of robbing a man and holding a BB gun in Eastpoint Mall, Baltimore in 2001, when he was just 16.

Barnes missed a court appearance relating to the case last August (06) after he was arrested for the alleged assault of his girlfriend in Georgia.

Elizabeth Bartholomew, spokeswoman for Maryland's Division of Parole and Probation, says the state has issued a third warrant for his arrest after he failed to attend a probation appointment to begin his two year parole sentence.

Barnes' lawyer Paul Gardner tells SOHH.com, "Chopper failed to appear before his probation officer because Chopper expected to report to a Georgia probation officer not a Maryland one."

Barnes believes he has completed his sentence of 100 hour of community service, but Maryland authorities disagree.

Gardner has accused the Baltimore judge of jeopardising the rapper's burgeoning music career, after his recent multi-million dollar deal with Cash Money Records.

Gardner says, "This judge is putting in danger a million-dollar deal over a BB gun when he was 16. If he's in jail, he can't record. Then there's no record deal."