After numerous delays for emergency dental surgery and courthouse fires, Lil' Wayne finally turned himself into authorities today (March 8) to begin his one year prison term for a July 2007 gun-possession charge.

At about 2 p.m., the rapper, dressed in black jeans, a black shirt and a gray jacket. appeared before Judge Charles H. Soloman at the Manhattan Criminal Court Building. With the large amount of photographers attempting to take his picture, mayhem broke out as the New Orleans native was escorted to the building by police and his Cash Money record label family.

Weezy, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, Jr., nodded to Cash Money executives and childhood friends Birdman and Slim, who were present in the courtroom and then police escorted him away to begin his sentence at Riker's Island.

Before turning himself him, Wayne took to his twitter page to write a message to fans. "Law is mind without reasons...I'll return," he said.

According to MTV, Wayne will not be housed in the general population at Riker's. Instead, he will reside at the Eric M. Taylor Center in a unit with inmates that meet a certain classification. Though he's sentenced to one year, good behavior could have the rapper out in as little as eight months.