Flavor Flav entered a not guilty plea to speeding and driving without a license, charges he picked up in Hempstead, New York, on the way to his mother's funeral earlier this month (Jan. 9).

"I'm hoping they would have a heart and dismiss it all because of the circumstances," he told Billboard.com. "Because if it wasn't for me driving to my mother's funeral and being late getting to my mother's funeral, I wouldn't have been behind the wheel in the first place to get the charge."

Flav's attorney, Indji Bessim, added that the she's working with the him to clear up the 16 suspensions that caused the unlicensed driving charge.

His mother, Anna Drayton, died Dec. 31.

Flav was released on bond; he's due back in court in April in Nevada for a trial. He faces felony assault with a deadly weapon and child endangerment charges for allegedly threatening his girlfriend's son and could get up to 12 years for that.

His Las Vegas lawyer, Kristina Wildeveld, said this recent New York traffic case shouldn't affect his Nevada case.

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 (Photo: AP Photo/Frank Eltman)