Pittsburgh Hip Hop star Wiz Khalifa has scored a significant legal victory overseas after a Romanian appeals court overturned the nine-month prison sentence imposed on him for marijuana possession stemming from a 2024 music festival appearance. The decision also cancels the warrant issued to enforce the sentence, although the Grammy-nominated rapper’s legal troubles in the Eastern European country are not completely over.
According to Romanian news agency AGERPRES, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in Khalifa’s favor on Tuesday, November 3, granting a legal challenge filed by his attorneys and annulling the December 18, 2025, judgment that would have required him to serve nine months behind bars.
The ruling marks a major reversal in a case that began more than 2 years ago, when the Taylor Gang founder was detained by Romanian authorities after allegedly smoking marijuana during a performance at the Beach, Please! Festival in Costinești, a resort town along the country’s Black Sea coast.
The incident occurred on July 13, 2024, when Khalifa, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, was performing before a large festival audience. Romanian prosecutors alleged that the rapper possessed 18.53 grams of cannabis and a marijuana cigarette, some of which he consumed while onstage.
Although Khalifa was briefly detained and questioned by police, he was subsequently released and permitted to leave the country. He later addressed the incident on social media, acknowledging that his decision to smoke during the performance may have violated local expectations.
“I didn’t mean any disrespect to the country of Romania by lighting up on stage,” Khalifa wrote on X following his release.
He also praised the authorities for their treatment of him, explaining that officers had been respectful throughout the encounter.
The situation initially appeared to have been resolved with a financial penalty. In April 2025, the Constanța Tribunal imposed a criminal fine of 3,600 Romanian lei, approximately $830 at the time, for unlawful possession of cannabis for personal consumption.
However, prosecutors from Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, commonly known as DIICOT, challenged the punishment, arguing that a monetary fine was insufficient.
Their appeal ultimately resulted in a considerably harsher outcome.
In December 2025, the Constanța Court of Appeal overturned the original fine and sentenced Khalifa to nine months in prison. The judgment was issued in his absence, creating the possibility that the American rapper could face detention if Romanian authorities were able to enforce the sentence.
The court’s decision attracted international attention, particularly because Khalifa has spent much of his career openly advocating for marijuana use and has built a recognizable public identity around cannabis culture.
However, Romania maintains considerably stricter marijuana laws than several jurisdictions in the United States, where recreational cannabis has been legalized at the state level. Under Romanian law, unauthorized possession of cannabis for personal use remains a criminal offense.
Khalifa’s legal team continued challenging the prison sentence, although an earlier attempt to overturn the judgment was unsuccessful in February 2026.
The case eventually moved to Bucharest, where his attorneys pursued an extraordinary legal remedy seeking to annul the appellate judgment.
On November 3, the Bucharest Court of Appeal granted that challenge, throwing out the nine-month sentence and canceling the corresponding prison enforcement warrant.
The ruling represents a major victory for Khalifa, but it is important to distinguish the cancellation of his prison sentence from a complete dismissal of the criminal case.
The court has not acquitted the rapper of the underlying drug possession allegation. Instead, judges have ordered a rehearing of the prosecution’s original appeal against the financial penalty.
That proceeding is scheduled for November 12 at 4 p.m. local time, when prosecutors will have another opportunity to present their arguments before the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
The court has also directed officials to make arrangements for Khalifa to participate in the hearing through videoconference, potentially allowing him to address the proceedings without traveling to Romania.
For the 39-year-old MC, whose career includes international hits such as “Black and Yellow,” “See You Again,” and “Young, Wild & Free,” the legal dispute has highlighted the complicated relationship between cannabis culture in American entertainment and the drug laws enforced in other countries.
While marijuana has become increasingly normalized in portions of the United States, particularly within Hip Hop, international performers remain subject to the laws of the countries in which they appear.
The latest ruling removes the immediate legal consequences of the December 2025 prison judgment, but the November 12 hearing will determine the next stage of the proceedings.
For now, Wiz Khalifa no longer faces an enforceable nine-month prison sentence in Romania, marking a significant turnaround in a case that once threatened to put one of Hip Hop’s most recognizable cannabis advocates behind bars overseas.
