Rapper Coolio is charged with possessing a gun found at LA International Airport

Grammy-winning rapper Coolio has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors in America say the handgun was found in his backpack during baggage screening at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) last month.

The 53-year-old star could be sentenced to up to three years in a state prison in California if he's found guilty.

Coolio is most famous for his hit Gangsta's Paradise, which was released in 1995.

He's been charged under his real name name is Artis Leon Ivey.

Prosecutors said it was illegal for the performer to carry a gun because of two convictions from 2001, one for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle and one in 2009 for possession of cocaine.

The rapper was scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday but the hearing was postponed until 26 October.

Coolio's lawyer told the judge that the rapper was performing outside California and couldn't make his appearance.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said that a warrant for Coolio's arrest would be issued if he failed to appear for the later court date.

The rapper's lawyer, Michael Aisen, wouldn't comment on the case.

According to Los Angeles police, a stolen, loaded pistol was found in the rapper's backpack at LAX on the X-ray screening belt as his entourage was going through security to board a flight while on their way to a concert.

To begin with, another member of his entourage claimed the bag was his.

But police say evidence in the backpack directed them to Coolio, who by then had boarded the plane.

LAPD spokesman Rob Pedregon says officers removed him from the aircraft.

This is what Coolio looked like in 1998

He said that Coolio acknowledged under questioning that the bag and the gun were his, but said little else after he was taken into custody.

Prosecutors say the case remains under investigation by police.

Coolio is due to release his eighth studio album, Hotel C, but the rapper has been concentrating on his web series in recent years, Cookin' with Coolio, and has released a cookbook.

He appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK in 2009 and the US version of Celebrity Wife Swap in 2013.

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