DMX Sentenced to 6 Months in Jail
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Rapper DMX can’t seem to stay out of trouble. A judge ordered him Tuesday to spend six months in a Phoenix jail for violating probation and to undergo a mental health evaluation.
DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, has been in jail since his arrest on March 9 for five counts of probation violation, admitting to a single violation of probation for failing a court-mandated drug test last June and testing positive for cocaine, according to various reports.
In a separate incident, the 39-year-old was released from jail in May of last year after serving a 90-day sentence for felony convictions including cruelty to animals, theft and two drug counts.
Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Christine Mulleneaux says he must receive a mental health evaluation to search for possible underlying psychological issues that might be driving his need to self-medicate. She said he could be released from jail earlier if he’s accepted into a court-approved drug rehabilitation program.
As a result, X seemed destined to be the next star to land on the VH1 reality show “Celebrity Rehab,” as he’s already been accepted by the Pasadena Recovery Center, which is the setting for the show. But show staff Will Smith told reporters that the “Party Up” rapper would not join the cast of “Rehab,” and instead is headed to a lockdown facility, reports MTV.com.
“He’s looking at nine months to a year of treatment,” Smith said. Where Simmons ends up depends on whether California allows him to serve out his intensive probation in the state, a sentence that will keep him under virtual house arrest until December. If not, X may have to undergo the Maricopa County Sheriff’s substance-abuse treatment program at the jail where is currently incarcerated.”
County authorities have arrested Simmons five times, including an August 2007 raid on the rapper’s north Phoenix home where they found 12 neglected dogs, three buried dogs, drugs and a cache of weapons.
