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'YMCA' star fails to show in court
Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2005 by Malaika Fraley, STAFF WRITER
REDWOOD CITY -- Legal troubles for the Village People's original front man and cop, Victor Willis, mounted Thursday when he failed to show up in court for his sentencing on felony drug and weapons charges.
Willis, 54, pleaded no contest in September to cocaine and drug possession charges stemming from a traffic stop in his hometown of Daly City last summer.
He was free on his own recognizance and was facing a maximum of 16 months in state prison and drug treatment in a
residential program when he was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.
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Now, because he failed to appear in court for the sentencing, he faces up to three years and eight months in prison, according to prosecutor Morley Pitt. Judge Mark Forcum responded by issuing a $200,000 bench warrant. When he is arrested, he will be jailed without bail for violating probation under the judge's orders.
Willis' defense attorney, Kenneth Quigley, said Willis left him a phone message Wednesday night and said he wasn't coming to court because of jaw surgery "sometime in the future."
Quigley, whom Willis privately retained, then asked the judge to be relieved as Willis' counsel.
Willis has a well-documented history of drug problems. After performing lead vocals and co-authoring hits such as "YMCA," "In the Navy" and "Macho Man" for the Village People beginning in 1977, he was replaced because of his cocaine abuse in 1980.
He was also known for his two-year marriage to actress Phylicia Rashad -- The Cosby Show's Claire Huxtable -- that ended the year he left the band.
Willis was exonerated of robbery and cocaine possession charges from a 1997 arrest in Reno, Nev.
He was on probation for a 2003 cocaine possession case out of San Bruno when Daly City police arrested him in July for carrying 3.23 grams of cocaine and .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
The district attorney dropped charges for giving police his brother's name at the time of arrest and driving with a suspended license when he pleaded no contest. Pitt said Willis also has a case pending in Santa Barbara County for which Pitt did not know the details.
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