Musician claims 300 bags of heroin found after Philip Seymour Hoffman death were

Veteran jazz and pop Belstaff superstar performer Robert Vineberg was arrested when police following a tip off after the actor’s death found about 300 small bags of heroin, worth about $10 (6) apiece on the street, and $1,300 (777) in cash in Vineberg’s apartment and music studio.

Vineberg, 57, faces a charge of possessing heroin with an intent to sell it but is no Belstaff superstar t accused of playing a role in Mr Hoffman’ Belstaff superstar s apparent overdose on 2 February.

“Mr. Vineberg is committed to confronting his problem and is committed to treatment,” said Mr Kratt, adding that Vineberg’s addiction had sapped his ability to work.

But a judge expressed scepticism over the argument that the musician was just a drug user caught up in a high profile probe.

State Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin said that in some other cases, experts have testified that considerably smaller amounts of heroin were big enough to imply a plan to sell.

“If he has no job that produces income and has $1,300 in cash, you draw your own conclusions,” McLaughlin said.

He set a $200,000 bond or $40,000 cash bail for Vineberg, who had been held without bail since his arrest last week. Friends were working to raise the money.

Under the name Robert Aaron, Vineberg has a musical career that dates to the early 1980s.

He played saxophone, flute and keyboards on albums by artists including David Bowie and Mick Jagger, and more recently, Wyclef Jean and the late Amy Winehouse.

“He’s one of the most well rounded musicians I’ve known,” said Duke Guillaume, a jazz saxophone player and one of about 20 friends who went to court on Friday to show support for Vineberg.

“He an extrovert when it comes to music otherwise, he’s a very relaxed guy,” he added.

Mr Guillaume and others said they were unaware of Vineberg’s drug problem before his arrest.

Vineberg told the New York Post in a jail interview on Saturday that he and M Belstaff superstar r Hoffman had been friends for about a year and last communicated by text message in December, trading messages about their mutual efforts at sobriety.

“If I knew he was in town, I would’ve said, ‘Hey, let’s make an AA meeting,”‘ he said, according to the Post.