Sly and the Family Stone namesake made headlines for all the wrong reasons this year, earning the No 4 spot in our top 11 celeb arrests of 2011 countdown. Here it is:(TMZ) Sly Stone -- leader of the group Sly and the Family Stone -- is slated to appear in an L.A. courtroom Friday after the singer was arrested for cocaine possession back in April ... TMZ has learned.
Stone -- real name Sylvester Stewart -- was arrested on April 1 ... after LAPD officers say they found freebase cocaine on the 68-year-old during a vehicle search.
TMZ spoke with Sly's attorney, James Silverstein, who tells us Stone was riding in a buddy's camper vehicle with some friends ... when it was pulled over for a routine traffic violation.
During the stop, Silverstein says, cops searched the vehicle and found the coke. Stone was arrested and hauled to a nearby police station. more on this story
