Real life drug charges for Jay of Jay & Silent Bob Fame

Noochie No-No! "Clerks" Costar Wanted

Jason Mewes--director Kevin Smith's hyperactive cohort in such films as Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back--is now wanted by police in New Jersey for violating his probation on real-life drug charges.

A Monmouth County judge issued the bench warrant for Mewes' arrest last month after the 27-year-old thespian and his lawyer failed to show up for a mandatory probation-violation hearing stemming from Mewes' February 2000 guilty plea for heroin possession, according to documents obtained by The Smoking Gun.

The mess traces back to a traffic stop at the Jersey Shore in which police pulled over Mewes' '93 Plymouth after noticing the car had its air bag deployed. According to the police report, the cops then spotted Mewes attempting to hide a "metal package" in his girlfriend's purse. There was a hypodermic needle in the container, as well as a stash of heroin in the actor's sock.

To avoid a possible jail sentence, Mewes struck a plea bargain with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to two years' probation, drug counseling, drug testing, 200 hours of community service, a $1,000 fine and suspension of his driver's license.

The judge allowed Mewes to serve out his probation in California, where he has moved to focus on his acting career.

But after Mewes skipped out on several meetings with his California probation officer, he was ordered to appear before the court. When neither he nor his attorney turned up at the Freehold, New Jersey, courtroom on December 14, Judge Michael D. Farren put out an APB for Mewes' arrest.

The warrant is good until the actor either turns himself in or is taken into custody.

Although phone calls to Mewes' attorney, Peter O'Mara, were not immediately returned, the lawyer did tell The Smoking Gun that he was unaware of the revocation hearing. O'Mara said Mewes' absence was likely the result of a "miscommunication" between probation officers in California and New Jersey.

Mewes' representatives declined to comment on the warrant. A rep for Smith's View Askew Productions said, "I'm not aware of it at all."

Mewes, a real-life pal of Smith's, made a name for himself doing a bit of Cheech and Chongery in the director's first big hit, Clerks. He has reprised the role of Jay in all of Smith's subsequent films, including Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma.

As for his own toke, er, take on drugs, Mewes gave a March 1999 interview to the View Askew Website in which he tried to clear up any confusion between his on-screen persona and real-life habits.

"I don't think anyone's ever thought I was a drug dealer," said Mewes. However, he did freely advocate his own belief that weed "should definitely be legalized."

Although he hasn't yet landed any plum movie roles outside the Smith oeuvre, a spliff-smoking Mewes did turn up in the music video for Afroman's drug-themed "Because I Got High," which E! Online users voted as the one song they could have done without in 2001.

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