Rapper Ja Rule pleads guilty on gun charge, faces two years in prison
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Rapper Ja Rule was promised a two-year prison sentence Monday after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon.
‘Because of your guilty plea here today, you’ll have a record of having committed a violent felony. This is a very serious matter,’ state Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers said in Manhattan.
‘This isn’t a good day,’ Ja Rule said as he left the court.
After the rapper’s chauffeured, $250,000 Maybach was stopped for speeding after a 2007 concert in Manhattan, police found a loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic gun in a door of the car.
The chauffeured car had a suspended registration and no insurance, said police, who also smelled marijuana at the time of the stop. No drug charges were filed, and a judge threw out the rapper’s statement to police that he had ‘a little bit of weed’ in his pocket.
Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, faced up to four years if convicted. The 34-year-old is free until sentencing, though that date has not been set. He is due in court Feb. 9 for an update.
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-- Christie D’Zurilla
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
