Beanie Sigel sentenced to 1 day in jail

Rapper Beanie Sigel sentenced to day in jail, extended probation.

Beanie Sigel was found guilty of a second probation violation today (January 9) after it was revealed he had taken a trip to Atlantic City, N.J. and had been in contact with a convicted felon.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick has ordered the rapper to serve on day in a federal prison and extended his probation - originally set to end next month - by a further 18 months. The first six of which will be served in a halfway house preventing the rapper from traveling to promote his latest album, "The Solution" (Roc-A-Fella Records), which has sold over 50,000 units in the United States since its release. It was rumoured Sigel would tour with The Roots to promote the album, however, that seems less likely given today’s ruling.

Sigel, born Dwight Grant, has had several brushes with the law over the last few years, but insisted to the judge that he has changed. "I’m human, but I’m working on my mistakes," he told Judge Surrick.

In the last month alone the 33-year-old has joined Bill Cosby on an anti-violence march in Philadelphia in an attempt to spread the message of curbing the city’s rising gun crime and he has spoken at a high school in a troubled Philadelphia neighbourhood.

Surrick recognised the work Sigel has done for the community but ordered that his actions must have consequences.

"If they’re looking at you as a role model, you’ve got to do the right thing," Surrick responded ordering the rapper to spend a day in prison instead of the possible three to nine months he could have served.

Sigel has previously served a year in federal prison on a gun charge and was acquitted of attempted murder a month after his release in September 2005. Before the end of 2005 he was back in jail for a brief stay after failing to pay up to $27,000 in child support payments. In 2006 he reported to police that he had been shot by a group of men who stole his cash and jewellery.