Lil’ Wayne’s Upcoming Jail Gig

Lil’ Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, is due to be sentenced tomorrow to a year in jail after previously pleading guilty to a weapons possession charge. His plea agreement calls for him to be incarcerated in NYC’s finest jails rather than in a state prison. Now the trick is to treat him like a common inmate.

“It’s a challenge,” said former New York City jails head Martin Horn. “It’s not about setting (a celebrity) on a bed of roses, but it is about an obligation to every inmate to keep him safe.”

Of course, Lil’ Wayne isn’t the first celeb to face time behind NYC’s jail bars. Associated Press points out Foxy Brown did eight months in a Big Apple city jail for probation violations. Due to threats made against her, she was held in protective custody in a private cell for much of her stay and had access to a day room.

Right now it looks as if Lil Wayne’s jail duty may go a similar route. Defense attorney Stacey Richman said her client would ask for protective custody and attention to his dental problems, but otherwise won’t expect any special treatment. Dental problems were the reason his sentencing was postponed from mid-February to this week.

“If Wayne had his druthers, he would not be asking for anything for himself,” Richman said.

Citing an anonymous prison guard, MTV says Lil’ Wayne’s days behind bars will include 4 a.m. wakeup calls and 3 p.m. dinners.

“He’ll be housed with inmates who are classified in his category, and he’ll be allowed to watch television, go into the day room and congregate with people of his classification,” the guard told MTV.

The guard also said Lil’ Wayne will probably do his time in the Eric M. Taylor Center at Rikers where he will be segregated from most of the jail’s prisoners.

When it comes to celebrities serving jail time, less is apparently more. That is, the less you stand out, the more likely you’ll be left alone by other prisoners. At least, that’s what prison consultant Herbert J. Hoelter said, claiming that any perceived special treatment may result in other inmates thinking the celeb is more deserving.

Hoelter should know a thing or two about celebrity inmates. One of his most famous clients is financial trickster Bernie Madoff, currently serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison defrauding his investment clients.

According to documents filed by an attorney representing one of the clients Madoff ripped off, the 71-year-old inmate has a drug dealer for a cellmate, eats pizza cooked by a child molester and takes nighttime walks around a prison track.

Guess you could say, Lil’ Wayne has a lot to look forward to.

Click here to read the complete Associated Press item.

Click here to read MTV’s report.