Charges dropped against rapper Beanie Sigel

Beanie Sigel has beaten another rap.

Prosecutors withdrew charges yesterday against the rapper, whose real name is Dwight Grant, after he resolved a dispute over a rental car he had kept long past its return date.

"We're satisfied with the way the D.A.'s Office handled the case," said Sigel's attorney, Fortunato N. Perri Jr. He said there were no further outstanding charges against his client.

Sigel, 33, of South Philadelphia, was dressed in a brown shirt and pants as he appeared at his 9 a.m. preliminary hearing at 55th and Pine Streets before Municipal Court Judge Frank Brady.

Perri said that an employee with Payless Car Rental told the court that there had been a "misunderstanding" and that the agency wanted to drop the charges.

Payless, which continued to charge Grant's credit card, reported the car stolen on Sept. 6, nearly a month after it was due to be returned on Aug. 13. Sigel paid the nearly $5,000 he owed for holding the 2007 Nissan Altima past its deadline.

Perri helped Sigel beat an attempted-murder rap in August 2005, a month after he left federal prison on a gun charge. He was also briefly jailed in late 2005 for failing to pay $27,000 in child support.