Beanie Sigel Found Guilty

[Double~Hitz]

Philly based rapper Beanie Sigel was convicted of assault Tuesday, for a fight in 2003.

Sigel, born Dwight Grant, did not dispute the prosecutor's version of events and was convicted of misdemeanor simple assault.

He was sentenced to two years' probation plus $180 in court costs.

The charges stem from an argument between Sigel and Wendell Mathis who said the rapper punched him in both eyes, breaking his left eye socket, during a January 2003 argument outside a Chinese restaurant.

The case was the last in a series of criminal charges against Sigel, who has an arrest record dating to his days growing up in South Philadelphia.

With the cases behind him, Sigel now plans to "make music, make movies and work on his clothing line," said his attorney, Fortunato N. Perri Jr.

In September, a jury acquitted him of charges that he nearly shot to death a man on a crowded city street two years ago. In August, Sigel left federal prison after serving nearly a year on a federal weapons charge that stemmed from a 2002 traffic stop in Philadelphia.

Sigel also has fallen behind in child-support payments. He was briefly jailed in November until he paid $27,000 in child support and $2,000 in fines.

He was due in family court later Tuesday because he again owes child-support money.

Source: Associated Press

[Vallus]

heres sum more beans news....some of it is already above^








The rapper, a protégé of Jay-Z, was convicted of assault Tuesday in a Philadelphia court. He was sentenced to two years' probation and $180 in court costs for fistfight outside a Chinese restaurant in 2003.

The victim claimed Sigel, whose real name is Dwight Grant, punched him in the face, breaking his left eye socket. Sigel worked out a deal to get the charge reduced to simple assault by agreeing to the prosecutor's version of events.

This conviction was the latest in a string of legal woes.

In November, Sigel did an hour stint in jail for flaking on child support payments to two women. He was released after writing a check for the $26,000 owed, plus another $2,000 in fines.

But he apparently didn't learn his lesson there because he had to make a second court appearance Tuesday for being behind in those payments again, owing his five-year-old son's mother $900. He was found in contempt and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

His lawyer, Fortunato N. Perri Jr., told the Associated Press that his client hopes to put his legal woes behind him and "make music, make movies and work on his clothing line."

Things could have been worse for the hip-hop star. Sigel dodged a bullet in September when he was acquitted of nearly shooting to death a man outside a Philadelphia strip club two years ago.

That trial came just weeks after Sigel was released from prison after spending a year behind bars for federal drug and gun charges stemming from a 2002 traffic stop where officers found a loaded gun and a stash of drugs, including marijuana and OxyContin.

Sigel's third album, The B. Coming, was released last March while he was in prison, as was his film State Property 2.