By Jayson Rodriguez
Lil Wayne at court Monday
Photo: Ray Tamarra/ Getty Images
Lil Wayne has been booked and processed into the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island to begin his one-year jail sentence.
According to most experts, the first 24 hours are the most crucial to ensuring a successful incarceration. Dr. Jefferey Ian Ross, a faculty member at the University of Baltimore's Criminology Division, advises that the superstar MC keep to himself as he gets adjusted to his new surroundings.
"Most of the time, the best thing to do in the first 24 hours is to keep your mouth shut as much as possible," Ross told MTV News. "Keep your eyes open and basically do as you're told by the correction officers. Essentially, you shouldn't look at other inmates in the eye, 'cause to a lot of people, that may be considered an aggressive type of action. Also, don't look at their property, because they may feel like that's aggressive as well and that you want their property."
Ross, who wrote the book "Behind Bars: Surviving Prison" along with Stephen C. Richards, explained that most inmates are housed with similar offenders, but there are instances were prisoners get bored and lash out. For these reasons, it's important for someone like Lil Wayne, a celebrity, to maintain as normal of a disposition as he can.
"Say 'yes sir,' 'no sir,' no cutting in line," Ross said. "Don't act like you have special privileges."
Unlike NFL star-turned-inmate Plaxico Burress, Lil Wayne shunned a jail coach or a sentencing specialist. Ross said that decision put Wayne at a disadvantage, because some benefits include assistance in building a network within the prison facilities. Sentencing coaches, in some cases, are previously jailed people who can connect incoming inmates with those they can trust inside.
According to Ross, Lil Wayne will eventually have to venture out from his own connections. But in the interim, Ross suggested the old adage that prisoners need to just "do their time."
"Keep your mouth shut, keep your eyes open, be respectful — not only to correction officers, but to inmates," he said. "And don't be a snitch and don't complain about the housing accommodations, follow those rules and they call that 'do your own time.'
"It's not easy," Ross added. "Criminals don't face a cakewalk, [regardless of the length of their sentence]. Their liberties and choices are taken away from them, and they're basically at the will of prison."
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