Lil Wayne sentencing postponed again

STAFF REPORT

Rapper Lil Wayne's jail term in a gun case was postponed again Tuesday because of a fire in the courthouse where he was due to be sentenced.

The blaze shut down a Lower Manhattan court for the day, postponing the rap star's court date among other proceedings.

It wasn't immediately clear when the sentencing would be rescheduled.

Last week, the rapper's sentencing was postponed until March 2 so he could have dental surgery before going to jail.

Defense lawyer Stacey Richman said Tuesday that the rapper was en route to New York for his 2:15 p.m. hearing when she learned of the court closing.

Having prepared to start his time behind bars, he wasn't pleased to hear about the postponement, she said.

"Once you make up your mind to do something, you want to do it," she said.

Earlier in the day, CNN.com reported that Lil Wayne would go directly to jail after being sentenced by a Manhattan judge Tuesday afternoon for a gun conviction.

Dwayne Carter III, as he is known legally, pleaded guilty to felony gun charges in a deal with prosecutors October 2009.

His plea deal calls for a one-year term in a city jail.

The plea agreement - a result of the rapper's 2007 arrest outside New York's Beacon Theater - calls for him to serve his sentence in city jails, rather than state prison.

Officials have declined to discuss where he'll be held among the roughly 13,000 inmates in the city's jails.

With good behavior, he could end up spending only about eight months behind bars.

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.

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 sometime this month.