DMX caught a break of sorts in his current criminal case but still ended up on house arrest by the judge's mercy.

According to TMZ, after showing up late to his bail bond hearing on Friday morning in New York City, the judge gave him a major lecture after learning he had failed four drug tests for marijuana and cocaine.

Currently out on bail in the tax evasion case, one of the conditions the rapper had was to stay away from drugs, which he clearly violated. In addition to that, he also went against another order: to not leave the state without the court's permission. Deviating from this instruction, he flew to St. Louis, recently, to handle some "family matters."

Thankfully for the MC, he was shown a bit of leniency and instead of throwing him in jail, the judge placed him on house arrest where he is required to wear an ankle bracelet to ensure he does not stray. The parameters are so tight that he cannot even go outside to mow his lawn.

This comes on the heels of the initial report that DMX faces 14 counts of evading more than $1 million in federal taxes.

Get more DMX news with BET Breaks, above.