Platinum-selling rapper Lil Wayne appeared to have won at least one more day of freedom on Tuesday when his sentencing on a weapons charge in New York was delayed due to a courthouse fire.
The fire at the New York state court complex in downtown Manhattan injured eight people, including a prisoner and five firefighters, before the building was evacuated and the flames extinguished.
The diminutive, heavily tattooed singer, winner of four Grammys in 2009, had already managed to delay his expected one-year sentence by a month when the New York judge allowed him to stay on bail for dental work.
Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter, pleaded guilty in October to weapons possession after a loaded .40 caliber pistol was found on his tour bus.
The 27-year-old rapper, whose songs and videos deal with the usual rap themes of gun violence, police, money and scantily-clad women, could have faced as many as 15 years under New York's tough firearms laws.
The light sentence reflected a plea deal made with prosecutors. He could get out after as little as eight months with good behavior.
