DMX gets 90-day jail term

PHOENIX —  Rapper DMX was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday for convictions on theft, drug-possession and animal-cruelty charges.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, also was placed on at least 18 months’ supervised probation by Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Phemonia Miller.

Simmons pleaded guilty Dec. 30 to three felony counts -- theft, possession or use of marijuana, and possession or use of narcotic drugs -- and one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty.

The 38-year-old rapper has been in the Maricopa County Jail since being arrested Dec. 9 in Miami on a warrant after failing to appear in court in Phoenix. His attorney, Stephen Lee Crawford, didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

The animal-cruelty and drug charges stem from an August 2007 raid that Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies conducted at Simmons’ home in Cave Creek, a Phoenix suburb. Authorities investigating a report of animal abuse found three dead dogs, guns, ammunition and drug paraphernalia.

He was not given credit for time served and will not get out of jail until the end of April, said Mike Anthony Scerbo, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.