As he preps 'New World Agenda,' the long-awaited sophomore effort he'll drop next month, 40 Glocc is once again facing an old adversary: the law.

According to TMZ, the troubled California rapper was arrested in Las Vegas on Oct. 3 and charged with beating his girlfriend and choking her to the point she "could not speak or breathe."

The former G-Unit signee allegedly accused the victim of "playing him" and struck her in the face, head, legs and ribs. She claims he tried to choke her three times before he fell asleep, enabling her to get away and call for help.

Police nabbed 40 as he tried to flee his home, and examining the girlfriend, they found "significant bruising to her throat, consistent with strangulation injuries," TMZ reports. The abuse had reportedly gone on for more than a year, and the girlfriend said she feared for her life. At one point, she said, the 'Welcome to California' rhymer handcuffed her and locked her in his trunk.

The incident comes less than a year after the suspected Crip was picked up San Bernardino, Calif., for driving with a loaded 9-millimeter pistol on his passenger seat. Four months earlier, in September 2010, police barred the MC from entering an apartment complex in his hometown of Colton City, given the increase in crime that seemed to come with his presence.

Born Lawrence White, the rapper faces three counts of "domestic battery by strangulation and coercion with force," according to reports. His legal team hopes to free him soon, though it remains to be seen whether he'll celebrate the Jan. 24 release of 'New World Agenda' from behind bars.

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