Welcome Back, Carter!
BET looks back at Lil Wayne's eventful 8-month prison sentence.
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Welcome Back, Carter! - Welcome Back, Carter! Lil Wayne wasn’t the first rapper to go to jail, but he has undoubtedly been the most covered. From the moment he began serving his 8-month sentence for gun possession back in March, the world has been fascinated with his every move. With Wayne recently released (Nov. 4), BET.com takes a look at his time behind bars. Welcome back, Mr. Carter!
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One More Night - Wayne was all set to report to a Lower Manhattan courthouse on March 2 when a small fire delayed his hearing. Jay-Z so happened to be performing at Madison Square Garden as part of his Blueprint 3 tour that evening and Weezy used his bonus free time to be one of Hov’s surprise guests at MSG.
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No Stans Allowed - Barely a week into Rikers Island, Wayne made the news when reports surfaced that he was instructed not to sign autographs during his sentence.
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Fan Mail - Wayne kept in touch with his fans on a regular basis via his newly launched Web site, www.weezythanxyou.com. The letters answered fans’ questions and chronicled his experience in jail. He’s penned nine letters to date.
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Wanted - Despite already being incarcerated, a bench warrant was issued for Wayne’s arrest in Arizona in mid-March. Weezy was due in Yuma County courthouse for a drug-related arrest.
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Suicide Watch - Back in early April, Us Weekly reported that Wayne’s jail occupation was to keep an eye on at-risk inmates. The magazine quoted the mother of his child, Toya Carter, as saying, "Wayne has a job -- they got him on suicide watch for other prisoners. He watches the crazy prisoners and makes sure they don't kill themselves. He likes the job even though they don't pay him much." She immediately took to Twitter to deny the story.
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I Spy - All eyes on Wayne, is right. In late April, Amelia Negron filed a federal lawsuit against the City of New York, claiming that Rikers Island personnel forced her to admit she was spying on Wayne. Negron was fired roughly a month after being accused of spying on the rapper.
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You Owe Me - Just two years after “Lollipop” premiered to the world, the track’s producer, Jim Jonsin, filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Lil Wayne over unpaid royalties. The suit stated that Jonsin had yet to be compensated for producing the no. 1 single.
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Contraband - Lil Wayne can’t live without his music. The rapper was caught with headphones and a charger for a watch that doubled as an MP3 player. Reports immediately surfaced that Wayne might see his 8-month sentence prolonged as a result of the recent bust.
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Plea Bargain - Three months into his sentence for drug possession in New York, Weezy reached a plea deal for his drug possession charges in Yuma County, Arizona. The rapper gets 36 months’ probation under the agreement.
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Uncle Sam - Reports surfaced that Wayne owes $1.13 million in taxes in the state of Florida for failing to pay in 2004, 2005 and 2007. At the same time, a Miami jeweler won a $146,000 judgment accusing the rapper of not paying for an 18-carat chain and a $138,000 platinum ring.
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Mismanagement - Back in August, word spread that Wayne’s former manager, Melissa Philipian, had filed a lawsuit against the rapper for fraud and breach of contract. The suit was initially filed in 2006 and settled for $375,000, but Philipian re-filed, claiming that she’s found new evidence that Wayne lied under oath during the 2006 hearings.
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Visiting Wayne - Throughout his sentence, media outlets, including BET.com, kept tabs on the countless celebs that visited Wayne in prison or spoke to him via phone. Kanye West, Diddy, Fat Joe, Birdman, Slim Williams, Lauren London, Toya Carter, Drake and Nicki Minaj are just some of the folks who took the trip to Rikers to visit Wayne during his jail time.
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Food Order - The relentless TMZ published a copy of one of Lil Wayne’s food orders back in August. Wayne reportedly ordered Reese’s, Snickers, M&Ms and some Kool-Aid. He also ordered 20 sets of stamps and envelopes.
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More Suits - Wayne wasn’t only at the receiving end of lawsuits in the past few months. He and Young Money Touring Inc. filed a lawsuit against former booking agency Ujaama Talent Agency Inc. for allegedly taking $375,000 off the books.
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Preferential Treatment - With Wayne’s birthday around the corner, news surfaced that Capt. Latanya Brown was under investigation for giving the rapper preferential treatment in Rikers for allegedly spending “extra time” with him and “letting him hang out in his cell while other inmates were locked out of their bunks and ordered into the recreation yard.”
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No.1 - To appease his fans’ appetites, Wayne released “I’m Not a Human Being” on his birthday, September 27. The LP reached no. 1 on the Billboard 200— selling 125,000 copies in its first week.
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Solitary Confinement - As the world celebrated Wayne’s no. 1 album, news surfaced that the rapper was put in solitary confinement for the music contraband incident that took place back in May.
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Unauthorized - Just last week, Captain Raphael Collazzo was suspended for 10 days without pay for paying an unauthorized visit to Wayne while the rapper was in solitary confinement.