SNOOP SENTENCED TO TRASH DUTY AS PUNISHMENT FOR CARRYING AN ILLEGAL WEAPON.

Don't be surprised if for some reason you find yourself driving along California's highways and you spot a 6'4" tall, lanky, older-than-35-years-old-looking black man wearing barrettes and whatnot in his 'I got Indian in my family' hair. It's just rapper Snoop Dog fulfilling his court-ordered community service. Snoop was sentenced to 160 hours of trash duty in an Orange County, CA park as part of his punishment for carrying an illegal weapon in an airport last year.

The rapper, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., will do "everything from raking leaves to painting benches" authorities said Thursday. The park will remain unnamed, so that media and fans will not interfere. No date was given for him to start or complete the service, but he wants to perform it as quickly as possible, his attorney said. "He feels 'whatever it takes' to get this behind him. His goal is to make music, not court appearances," his attorney, Donald Etra, said. His sentence included community service, three years of probation, $1,000 in fines and court costs, and a $10,000 donation to a county charity for troubled children.

Snoop, who runs a youth football league, requested that his community service involve working with children, Etra said. However, the court and prosecutors did not want him involved with children, gangs or football. "We don't want to make a role model out of him," said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the county district attorney's office. "The purpose of a sentence is punishment and we don't consider it to be punishment for a person to participate in activities that are already part of their daily routine."

Snoop, 35, pleaded guilty last month to one count of felony possession of a dangerous weapon. Police arrested him Sept. 27, 2006, after he tried to carry a collapsible baton in his computer bag through security at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Authorities considered the baton a dangerous weapon, but the artist claimed it was a prop for a video he was filming in New York. The felony conviction on his record will be reduced to a misdemeanor if the rapper does not break the law for a year.