Celebrity Mound

Rap star DMX has been released from an Arizona state prison after serving an extra week behind bars for failing a drug test while incarcerated.

Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman Bill Lamoreaux says family members were at the facility in Yuma to pick up the multi-platinum selling recording artist Tuesday.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was given a year in prison in December after his probation was revoked for failing to submit to drug testing and driving on a suspended license.

The 40-year-old Simmons was credited with 117 days he had already served.

Simmons had been earning 20 cents an hour as a porter.

After serving only 18 days in prison, E! Online reports that rapper DMX has been released from the Los Angeles County prison where he was slated to do 90 days time for probation violation.

The hitmaking MC, born Earl Simmons, surrendered himself to authorities on July 26 for a probation violation in connection with a 2002 DUI. It was his second stint in the big house this year, and his third trip to prison in two years. The rapper, 33, was ordered to go behind bars earlier this year for six months after admitting to using drugs while on probation.

According to E!, he also served a full 90-day sentence in 2009 after cutting a plea deal on drug possession and animal cruelty charges in Arizona.

While DMX’s early career was categorized by a string of chart-topping hits and film roles (most notably “Cradle 2 the Grave” with Jet Li), he hasn’t released an album since 2006′s “Year of the Dog…Again” and has been more notable in recent years for his prison stints than his music or acting.

Incidentally, he’s not the only celebrity to get out of jail earlier than anticipated: Lindsay Lohan served two weeks of her 90-day sentence before she was released and sent to rehab earlier this month.

According to TMZ, DMX has also battled addiction for several years and went so far as to ask for “Celebrity Rehab’s” Dr. Drew Pinsky’s help in March. Show staffer Will Smith, who also works at the Pasadena Recovery Center where the show takes place, dismissed the notion that the rapper would be admitted as a contestant, but instead, would need some significant time in a lock-down facility.

“He’s looking at nine months to a year of treatment,” Smith told the Arizona Republic.

A judge has ordered rapper DMX to spend six months in a Phoenix jail for violating probation and to undergo a mental health evaluation.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, admitted in court Tuesday to a single violation of probation for failing a drug test last June. He was arrested March 9.

The 39-year-old rapper was released from jail in May after serving a 90-day sentence for felony convictions including cruelty to animals, theft and two drug counts.

Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Christine Mulleneaux says he could be released from jail earlier if he’s accepted into a drug rehabilitation program.

County authorities have arrested Simmons five times, including an August 2007 raid on the rapper’s north Phoenix home where they found 12 neglected dogs, three buried dogs, drugs and a cache of weapons.

The rapper, real name Earl Simmons, was taken into custody in Phoenix, Arizona and brought before a judge after allegedly violating the terms of his probation by using illegal drugs.

The star appeared clearly agitated as he waited and began an obscenity-laden tirade about his civil rights once the hearing was over, witnesses said.

Speaking into the camera, DMX ranted, “Real fair treatment going on. I’m the only one here. I’m the only one got arrested today… F**king c**ksuckers do it every time, man. I get my rights violated but I gotta be quiet about it.”

DMX spent time in jail last year on charges of drug possession, animal cruelty and theft, stemming from various arrests in 2008. He was sentenced to 18 months probation after his release in May for verbally threatening a guard during his stint in prison.

A day before he was scheduled to appear in an Arizona court, rapper DMX was admitted to an Aventura, Florida, hospital Monday (September 22), according to his lawyer Bradford Cohen.

Cohen wouldn’t confirm media reports alleging that DMX’s hospitalization was for “fear of stroke,” but he did say that the rapper’s condition was “serious enough at the time, but ultimately he should be OK.”

“It was serious enough for him to be brought and taken into a treatment facility. He spent the night there last night, and he will probably spend tonight there as well,” Cohen told Billboard.com. “I don’t think it’s going to be an ongoing thing or a life-threatening situation. He’s going to be alright.”

Earlier this month, DMX, born Earl Simmons, was extradited from Florida to an Arizona jail to face numerous charges he had accumulated in the state, including drug possession, traffic violations, animal cruelty accusations and defrauding a hospital with an invalid Social Security number and name. He has since posted bond and has no warrants in the state, He was due in court Tuesday (September 23) to “clear up the bond issue for the possession case.”

In August the former Def Jam recording artist was admitted to a hospital the day before he was due in court, but Cohen doesn’t believe this will raise red flags regarding the current case. “If a hospital holds you for observation, then there’s no reason to fear,” he said. “Hospitals want to free up beds. He’s never checked into a hospital and checked right out — his visits always warrant him staying there for a couple of days.”

Pending his discharge, DMX has a September 29 rescheduled Arizona court date and a number of other hearings to attend in the following weeks.