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Lil Wayne set to begin his jail term
by Samia Sehgal - March 2, 2010 - comments
Once inside the jail, Wayne will have no benefits of his celebrity-status.
Lil Wayne is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday to begin his year-long jail sentence related to a 2007 weapons charge against the rapper.
The sentencing had to be postponed last month as Wayne was plagued with dental problems and his attorney requested for some time before the artist got sentenced.
Judge Charles H. Solomon granted a month’s time to Wayne to seek treatment for his dental troubles and rescheduled the court’s proceedings for March 2.
Dental surgery and jail time
It seems the going is tough for the multiplatinum-selling rapper, who underwent extensive dental surgery in the month-long time period he got off from the jail. The surgery was later revealed to be a punishing root canal treatment in eight teeth.
“I don't want this to get pushed back anymore,” Judge Solomon had told Wayne’s lawyer. “This is the last adjournment.”
Wayne is “staying strong”
When Wayne appears before the Judge on Tuesday afternoon, he must be very prepared for his prison term. The rapper has been preparing to be off the circuit; he recorded a video clip to disclose how he has been working before beginning his jail sentence.
In a video clip sent to MTV News, the rapper claimed to have shot footage for seven music videos with different artists in one night this weekend.
Wayne, who joined micro-blogging site Twitter only a week ago, on Monday posted a simple, short message: “staying strong.”
“He's been approaching this as professionally as he does everything else,” said his lawyer, Stacey Richman.
Charges against Wayne
The 27-year-old rapper, who has swiftly climbed the popularity chart in the past few years, was arrested for criminal possession of a gun in October 2007. The loaded weapon was found in a bag placed near the rapper, when the police searched his tour bus.
The rapper, who pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon, is to serve his sentence in city jails for a year, but if he behaves well, he may be let off in about eight months.
"He'll be housed with inmates who are classified in his category, and he'll be able to be a regular inmate," said a guard, who refused to be identified. "He'll be able to watch television, go into the day room and congregate with people of his classification.”
However, once inside the jail, Wayne will have no benefits of his celebrity-status.
"He'll have no preferable treatment at all. He'll be treated like a regular inmate," the guard reportedly said.