Chris Brown sells a lot of music, but he’s also popular in the tabloids, for reasons that include but are not limited to beating up Rihanna, committing potential parole violations, getting into a shady car accident and starting a nightclub brawl. Recently, some of his past issues have come back to haunt him. On Friday, Brown was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community labor stemming from a recent hit and run accident that violated his parole.
You would think one of these problems may have spurred a judge to order the 1,000 hours of labor, but it was actually the car accident that Brown took responsibility for that caused the recent court date. Brown apparently hit a woman, stopped and chatted with her, and then repaired her car. Still, lawyers pressed on and although the charges were dropped, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Brandlin eventually ruled that if Brown served the hours, his probation would also be reinstated.
Hopefully, the star will show up to finish the hours this time. More than a year ago, the 24-year-old performer got into some heat with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office who encountered discrepancies with the times and dates of some community hours he supposedly served. The office found that Brown had described dates where he said he had volunteered, but was actually on the road and sometimes even out of the country performing. The District Attorney’s office underwent an investigation and later found that the star was only escorted to community service on several occasions. The Richmond police chief who approved Brown’s ‘fulfilled ‘ community service hours eventually even resigned from his position.
CNN was quick to note that Judge Brandlin would not take sides when past records of service were brought up. Still, this time around, Brown will have to accomplish hours of actual hard labor, which includes beach cleanup or even working for Caltrans, the agency responsible for highway maintenance, etc. Assumedly, the police in the LA area will also keep a closer watch on the young man’s work hours this time around.
Hard labor is actually a pretty big punishment, but it is not nearly as bad as it could have been for the singer. If probation had not been reinstated, Brown could have faced four years of jail time related to the domestic violence charge police slapped him with after Rihanna was hit. He also failed a drug test during probation, which could have contributed to actual jail time served. All in all, things weren’t looking good for the 24-year-old, and he’s lucky he got off as cleanly as he did. Now, he’ll really have to stick to the terms of his probation if he wants to avoid the courts any further.
