Posted: January 2, 2009, 5 a.m. EST
Rapper DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, has pleaded guilty to multiple animal cruelty, drug, and theft charges in Arizona.
The deal stems from the singer’s arrest after a 2007 raid on his suburban Phoenix home uncovered three dead dogs, guns, ammunition, and illegal drugs.
DMX is expected to receive a minimum 90-day jail sentence and probation when he is sentenced on Jan. 30.
Prosecutors said that as part of the plea agreement, DMX cannot own any animals, possess firearms, and must attend an animal offender treatment program. A parole violation would send him to jail for more than 10 years.
The rapper, whose albums include “Hell Is Hot,” “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood,” and “Year of the Dog ... Again,” has been arrested several times in the last year.
In May, Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies and a SWAT team went to DMX’s home to serve arrest and search warrants on the earlier drug and animal cruelty charges. DMX briefly barricaded himself in his bedroom before surrendering.