Beanie Sigel News

A federal judge in Philadelphia has prolonged the trouble-prone rapper's probation by an additional six months after Sigel flubbed a drug test and was spotted consorting with convicted felons.

Sigel, whose real name is Dwight Grant, was hauled into court Wednesday to be quizzed about what prosecutors alleged was a "technical violation" of his supervised release on federal gun and drug charges. The charges stemmed from an April 2002 traffic stop, during which the South Philly emcee allegedly fled his Cadillac Escalade and ditched a loaded gun while trying to evade police.

In April 2004, he pleaded guilty to the gun-possession charge hoping to avoid a lengthy prison term. The following October, he was sentenced to a year in lockup followed by two years' probation and ordered to pay a fine of $25,000.

Per the Philadelphia Daily News, the U.S. Probation Office requested Wednesday's hearing after Sigel failed to inform his probation officer that he and his posse were pulled over and questioned by police on Aug. 20. One of the men in the entourage was a convicted felon.

Then in December, the 32-year-old hip-hopster tested positive for the prescription medications codeine and morphine in a drug test.

The incidents were enough to prompt probation officials to ask U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick that Sigel's release—which was due to end this summer—be postponed.

When interrogated about the drug test, Sigel testified that a doctor had prescribed him the medication three days before he submitted to it.  As evidence, his lawyer, Fortunato Perri Jr. presented Surrick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Curtis Douglas with a copy of the prescription signed by the physician, which seemed to placate the judge.

Jay-Z's protégé stumbled though when asked about why he was in the company of a fellow ex-con.

"It's kind of hard for me to know who I'm associating with in the business I'm in," the Daily News quoted Sigel telling the judge.

As a consequence, a skeptical Surrick gave Grant six additional months of supervised release, which means Sigel will have to continue seeing his probation officer through early next year.  The judge also cautioned Sigel to "get this situation straightened out."

"You're going to talk to probation, you're going to get under control or otherwise I'm going to have to take action you're not going to appreciate," the judge reprimanded.

This is just the woe for the rapper.

The artist was acquitted in 2004 of allegedly shooting and killing a man outside a Philadelphia strip club after the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. In November 2005, he was jailed for failing to pay child support.

And last May, Sigel claimed he was shot during an apparent holdup outside a Philly nightclub. He managed to escaped and was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound in his upper arm, but not before his assailants made off with $3,000 in cash and a $75,000 watch.

Investigators told the Daily News that they doubted Beanie's story after the plus-sized entertainer gave a two-hour interview on Aphilliates: The Streetz Is Watchin', a weekly hip-hop program on Sirius Satellite Radio, essentially admitting he fabricated part of the scenario.

Strangely enough, Sigel has since refused to cooperate with the police.