Lil Wayne sentencing postponed
Rapper will have dental surgery before beginning one-year prison term
February 9, 2010, 10:56 p.m.
STAFF REPORT
On Tuesday, rapper Lil Wayne's sentencing in a weapons case was postponed so he could have dental surgery before going to jail.
The rapper is now due to be sentenced on March 2. His plea deal calls for a one-year term in a city jail.
The rapper, who once told Jimmy Kimmel his jewel-encrusted teeth had cost him $150,000, said nothing at a brief court session Tuesday. He left in a black SUV, flanked by fellow rapper Birdman and others.
Defense lawyer Stacey Richman said Lil Wayne was headed home to Miami for dental work Friday. She declined to go into detail about the surgery.
"It is a medical situation that, like (it would for) any of us, has to be addressed," Richman said outside court. She added that the rapper had planned to take care of it before Tuesday but his dentist had been out of the country doing charitable work.
Wayne pleaded guilty to felony gun charges in October stemming from a July 2007 arrest following his first headlining concert in New York. Police said Carter and another man were smoking marijuana on a New York City street, and a .40-caliber pistol was in Carter's possession.
The 27-year-old Grammy winner, also known as Dwayne Carter III, copped to a felony count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.
It was determined that the rapper would be sentenced to one year in prison as a part of his plea deal and would also surrender his passport.
Wayne told Rolling Stone he doesn't plan to stop working on his next album, "Tha Carter IV," while he's in prison. In other recent interviews, he has said he is looking forward to his prison term.
Wayne is expected to serve eight to 10 months, assuming good behavior.
The incident took place in July 2007, when police pulled over Wayne's tour bus at around 11:30 p.m. after his show at the New York's Beacon Theatre. Before his show that night, Wayne made repeated comments from the stage about being hassled by police and threatened not to perform in New York again.
The rapper also faces felony drug possession and weapons charges in Arizona after police allegedly found 105 grams of marijuana, 29 grams of cocaine, 41 grams of ecstasy, various drug paraphernalia and a handgun on his tour bus during a traffic stop in Yuma County back in 2008.
Wayne pleaded not guilty to those charges. His trial is set for March.