Lil Wayne is facing the music after being accused of breaking jail rules by having gear for listening to tunes and was relocated Monday into what city jail officials call “punitive segregation” for a month, until his expected November 4th release date at Rikers Island. This punishment—which is the equivalent of ‘solitary confinement’ and requires him to be in his cell 23 hours a day. So he can expect to go solo for the rest of his time behind bars in a gun case.
Correction Department spokesman Stephen Morello said;
“It’s his punishment for stashing a charger and headphones for a digital music player in his cell back in May.”
Wayne generally will now be confined to his new cell 23 hours a day, with such exceptions as visits and showers, instead of being allowed to mingle with other inmates most of the day. He’ll eat in his cell and won’t get to socialize even during his hour a day of recreation, Morello said.
Wayne also will have to forego TV, and he’ll be limited to one phone call a week instead of a chat a day or more, except for calls to his lawyer, Morello said. The lawyer, Stacey Richman, had no immediate comment.
The 28-year-old rapper, one of the genre’s biggest stars, has been held since March in the Rikers Island jail complex. He pleaded guilty in October 2009 to attempted criminal possession of a weapon, admitting he had a loaded semiautomatic gun on his bus in 2007. He got a one-year sentence but is expected to serve eight months because of time off for good behavior, despite the music-player gear episode.
Officials said, “the headphones and charger were found in May, tucked in a potato chip bag in a garbage can in the rapper’s cell”.
The items are considered contraband, as inmates can listen to music only on radios and headphones sold at the jail commissary. Officers said “the music player itself turned up in another inmate’s nearby cell”.
Both men were charged with infractions that weren’t crimes and were subject to a jail disciplinary process, not a court. Information on the other inmate’s punishment wasn’t immediately available Monday.
Lil Wayne’s penalty was within norms for his infraction, Morello said.
“Possession of contraband is serious,” he said, “though not as grave as violent offenses or being caught with a weapon, for example”.
Born Dwayne Carter, Lil Wayne had the best-selling album of 2008 with “Tha Carter III,” which won a Grammy for best rap album.
As he faced incarceration, he told Rolling Stone he planned to keep up the beat behind bars.
“I’ll have an iPod, and I’ll make sure they keep sending me beats,” he told the magazine for a February story.
Sources: Yahoo News, singersroom
“Ok now I know he’s locked up for gun charges, but to get solitary confinement for the rest of his jail time over an iPod situation that happened back in May, is ridiculous! I’m sure he’s glad he’ll be out of there soon. Trust he will welcome us all with some great tunes. Nov. 4th is rapidly approaching…let me not jinx it. Good Luck Wayne!!”
JNEL & J. Magazine 