Lil Wayne was sentenced Monday to a year in jail in New York City for having a loaded gun on his tour bus in 2007, then was taken away in handcuffs to begin his term immediately. The Grammy Award-winning rapper, born Dwayne Carter, was sentenced in Manhattan after pleading guilty in October to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He admitted having the loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun on his tour bus.

The rapper will serve his sentence in city jails, not a state prison. He could be released in about eight months with good behavior. Before Monday's court appearance, it had proved difficult to actually begin Lil Wayne's agreed-upon sentence.

First, the rap star's sentencing was postponed in February so he could undergo surgery on his bejeweled teeth. Then, a fire shut down Manhattan's main criminal courthouse while he was on his way there last week.