Chris Brown has been sentenced to one year in jail in connection with a fight in Washington last autumn. Having already served 234 days in rehab and custody, the R&B singer was ordered to remain behind bars for only 131 days more after admitting to having violated his probation.
"We're gratified that he was not sentenced to state prison, gratified that he's still on probation," Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, told CNN on Friday. Although the sentence could technically extend until mid-September, Geragos predicted his client would be released over the weekend, due to good behaviour. "If he isn't out by Monday, then I would expect he's getting special treatment," he said. "[Chris has] over 230 days credit on a 365 [day sentence] and generally the sheriff is releasing on a lot less than that." As of Sunday night, it did not appear that Brown had been set free.
Despite Friday's decision, Brown is not actually finished with this assault case. Technically, he was sentenced for violating probation – probation that stems from his 2009 attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna. The singer is still expected to stand trial over his confrontation with a 20-year-old student, last October.
Whenever Brown is released, he has other obligations ahead of him. He must serve 700 hours of community labour at a rate of at least three days per week, in addition to a programme of weekly anger management and family counselling sessions. The 25-year-old will also be expected to undergo random drug tests. "I think that Chris has learned quite a bit through this experience and I'm anxious to see how he does, as I think everybody else is," Geragos said.
Brown's sixth studio album, X, was scheduled to be released on 5 May. His label has yet to announce a new release date.
