From wire reports
NEW YORK -- After saying goodbye on concert stages and online video streams, Lil Wayne had nothing to add as he was sentenced Monday to a year in jail for having a loaded gun on his tour bus.
The Grammy Award-winning rapper delivered only a brief bow to fans and supporters as he was led out of a courtroom in handcuffs to start serving his sentence.
With that, Lil Wayne headed off to face his punishment in a case that had shadowed him as he became one of music's most prolific and profitable figures in recent years. Arrested in July 2007, he pleaded guilty in October to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He admitted he had the loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun on his bus.
His lawyer, Stacey Richman, said the rapper was resolute as he was taken away. "He knew what he had to do, and he's doing it," she said.
Lil Wayne will serve his sentence in the Rikers Island jail complex.
Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Carter, is going behind bars with his career in full throttle. His "Tha Carter III" was the best-selling album of 2008 and won a Grammy for best rap album. His latest album, "Rebirth," was released last month.
Girls Gone Wild associate fined in bribery
RENO, Nev. -- A Hollywood associate of Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis was fined $5,000 Monday but spared prison time for his role as the "bag man" in the bribery of jail guards to help Francis when he was held in Reno on tax evasion charges in 2007.
Aaron Weinstein, 45, originally faced a felony bribery charge but agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor of providing contraband in prison.
U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks said Weinstein avoided up to six months in prison because he cooperated with authorities in prosecuting Francis and two former guards at the Washoe County jail who acknowledged accepting thousands of dollars in cash and gifts.
"One could easily say there should be a short prison sentence here," Hicks said Monday in federal court in Reno. "His cooperation and straight forward demeanor spared him that."
One former deputy, Frank Hawkins, was sentenced in December to three years in prison and fined $4,000 for accepting cash and tickets to Oakland Raiders games from Weinstein. Another, Mary Boxx, also has pleaded guilty to a bribery charge and is to be sentenced by Hicks on March 15. A third accused in the case was acquitted.
Weinstein apologized Monday for his involvement in the bribes and the "negative impacts on the lives of a number of people." He said he was especially concerned about any damage he caused to the reputation of the law officers at the jail.
Oscars draw estimated 41.3 million viewers
NEW YORK -- An estimated 41.3 million people saw "The Hurt Locker" top the popular "Avatar" for best picture in the most-watched Academy Awards telecast since 2005.
Oscar viewership was up 14 percent over last year, the Nielsen Co. said Monday, keeping with a trend of bigger audiences for major events on broadcast television a month after the Super Bowl set the mark for most-watched telecast ever.
In true film fashion, the Oscars built to a big climax when the Iraqi war thriller "The Hurt Locker" and its director, Kathryn Bigelow, topped "Avatar," directed by her ex-husband James Cameron. Bigelow was the first woman to win the Oscar for best director.
The audience was up from the 36.3 million who saw "Slumdog Millionaire" win best picture last year and 32 million -- Oscar's smallest audience on record -- in 2008, Nielsen said. The Oscars had just over 42 million watch in 2005, when "Million Dollar Baby" was the big winner.
