An Arizona judge issued an arrest warrant for [artist id="1325"]DMX[/artist] (born Earl Simmons) on Friday (December 5) after the troubled rapper failed to appear for a court date related to drug and animal-cruelty charges. In addition to the warrant, a Maricopa County Superior Court spokesperson confirmed that Judge Michael Kemp also raised the bond on DMX to $120,000 cash due to his no-show.

While manager Fred Coleman had no comment on the latest twist in [article id="1593070"]DMX's ongoing legal saga[/article], court-appointed Arizona attorney Charles Kozelka told MTV News he informed the judge that X has been "in and out" of several rehab facilities recently but that the judge would not accept that as a reason for the rapper's absence. Kozelka also explained that unlike the previous $10,000 and $25,000 bonds in the case -- which allowed X to put up 10 percent of the bond in order to secure his release -- the new bond must be paid in full, in cash.

X was due in court Friday to answer to a number of charges stemming from a series of arrests in Arizona over the past year, including 11 counts of drug possession and drug-paraphernalia possession, allegedly giving false information at a hospital and seven counts of animal cruelty.

In September, [article id="1595448"]DMX missed a court date[/article] in Arizona when he was reportedly rushed to an emergency room in South Florida. That court appearance was tied to a previous bench warrant issued after the rapper missed a court date in August. This marks the third fugitive warrant issued for X's arrest in Arizona this year due to his failure to appear. Kozelka said he will soon be handing off the DMX case to another attorney, who could not be reached for comment at press time.