DMX is reportedly behind bars—once again.
According to the New York Daily News, the 47-year-old rapper was taken into custody Tuesday morning after he allegedly tested positive for drugs. Manhattan Judge Jed Rakoff referred to X as a “genuine flight risk” and accused him of repeatedly lying about complying with the conditions of his bail.
Rakoff said the rapper was found with opiates, cocaine, and oxycodone in his system.
As you might recall, X was placed on probation in his tax evasion case, in which he is accused of failing to pay $1.7 million in taxes over the course of five years. X pleaded guilty to the fraud charges in late 2017 and is scheduled for sentencing in a couple of months.
The rapper’s attorney Murray Richman claims his client took drugs in an attempt to cope with his child’s illness. The Daily News reports his one-year-old son was hospitalized earlier this month with a 104-degree fever. The lawyer said X decided to leave a rehabilitation center so he could see his sick son in NYC.
“I’d like to tell you I have total control of his movements, I don’t,” Richman told the judge, according to the Daily News. “I cannot make excuses anymore.”
U.S. Attorney Spokesman Nicholas Biase told TMZ that prosecutors also pointed a recent video in court Tuesday in which X was seen at an airport bar where he seemed to be delivering an impromptu sermon. Witness claimed the rapper was buying and taking shots at the bar, which is a violation of his bail conditions.
X’s Saturday concert at the PlayStation Theater in Time’s Square has been canceled, as well as the handful of other shows scheduled through July.
The rapper will appear in court to face the tax evasion charges. If found guilty, he could be sentenced up to five years in prison.
