Los Angeles, Dec 28 (IANS): Singer Chris Brown has been charged with owning a restricted species, a capuchin monkey, without a permit.

The Los Angeles City Attorney charged the "Don't judge me" hitmaker with two criminal counts, carrying a maximum sentence of six months in prison, reported tmz.com.

According to people.com, Patrick Foy, captain with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, investigated Chris's home earlier this year. The singer wasn't home at the time, but others there relinquished the monkey at that time.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife then filed their evidence with the LA City Attorney, and filed the charges.

This is not the first time that Chris has encountered legal trouble.

In 2009, he was sentenced to five years probation and 180 days of community labour after pleading guilty to felony assault for beating former girlfriend-singer Rihanna.

Seven years later, he was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon (charges were never filed), and in 2017, his former girlfriend Karreuche Tran was granted a restraining order against him.