'Precious' Director's Sister Charged In NYC
NEW YORK (AP) _ The sister of "Precious'' director Lee Daniels has been charged with removing guns and cash from her California house following her husband's arrest on drug smuggling charges.
Leah Daniels-Butler, a casting associate who helped discover "Precious'' star Gabourey Sidibe, was charged Tuesday in Brooklyn with obstructing a federal investigation.
She was ordered to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet and released on $50,000 bail.
Her lawyer, Jim McMillan, declined comment, the Daily News reported.
Federal authorities say Henry Butler was arrested after driving away from his Thousand Oaks, Calif., home on Aug. 3. He was accused of smuggling cocaine from Los Angeles to New York using overnight shipping.
While investigators were trying to get permission to search Butler's home, local police saw Daniels-Butler drive off in a Mercedes Benz, according to a federal complaint charging her with evidence tampering. The police stopped her for a traffic violation and, with her consent, searched the car. Inside, they found a loaded semiautomatic handgun, an unloaded Tech-9 assault weapon, ammunition and $39,500 in alleged drug proceeds, the complaint said.
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