DMX Sentenced to 70 Days in Jail

DMX was sentenced to 70 days on Rikers Island today (Nov. 18) at a sentencing hearing in Queens, New York. Criminal Court Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt sentenced DMX to 70 days on Rikers Island for violating his probation and showing up three hours late to court yesterday. DMX, real name Earl Simmons, was facing a 60-day jail term and a $1,000 fine after pleading guilty last month to violating the conditions of his probation following a June 2004 incident at Kennedy International Airport. Judge Chin-Brandt added an extra 10 days to the rapper’s sentence, saying that DMX’s actions were disrespectful to the court. Yesterday, Murray Richman, DMX’s defense attorney, asked the judge to give his client until 5 p.m. to appear, asserting that Simmons was late because of an asthma attack brought on by stress. Today, DMX produced a doctor’s note in court confirming that he was late to court yesterday because of the asthma attack. "I'm still a person with kids at home and a wife," DMX told Judge Chin-Brandt. “I am sorry. I was sick. I apologize." Under the conditions of Simmons' December 2004 release, he was to remain incident free and ordered to stay out of trouble for one year. Law officials said he violated the terms of his release when he was cited for speeding near his Westchester County home at 104 mph, and for an accident in the Bronx with two other vehicles, one of them an unmarked police car. The rapper, who arrived hours late for his court appearance, showed up with a reality television camera crew in tow to film his courthouse arrival. Throughout the years, DMX’s name has made headlines in relation to his driving. In 2000, the NYPD sought the rapper after he allegedly slammed his SUV into a car full of women and left the scene. In December of 2002, he was charged with various traffic violations in Harrison, New York, after authorities spotted him driving his SUV recklessly. Source: AllHipHop.com