Rapper Ja Rule sentenced

Rapper Ja Rule sentenced in tax return case
SAMANTHA HENRY
(The Associated Press)



NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) — Rapper and actor Ja Rule was sentenced Monday to more than two years in federal prison for failing to file income tax returns, and said a combination of youthful inexperience, bad advice and an inability to manage fame and fortune lead to his financial troubles.

"I in no way attempted to deceive the government or do anything illegal," he said, minutes before being sentenced in a New Jersey federal court. "I was a young man who made a lot of money — I'm getting a little choked up — I didn't know how to deal with these finances, and I didn't have people to guide me, so I made mistakes."

The multiplatinum-selling artist, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, admitted in March that he failed to pay taxes on more than $3 million that he earned between 2004 and 2006 while living in Saddle River.
Ja Rule was sentenced in New York City last month to up to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted criminal weapon possession. The case stemmed from a gun found in his car in 2007. Police said they stopped Ja Rule's $250,000-plus Maybach sports car for speeding and found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun in a rear door. The gun wasn't registered. He was charged under a New York law that generally bars people from having firearms outside their homes or workplaces.

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>> So you make rap crap and get paid and yet these people cheat by not paying taxes.
The middle paragraph--- JaRule said about his deception sucks.
Give me any reason why our children want to look up to these guys as heroes instead of zeros ? <<

i wonder if Jeffrey there has actually never heard of an accountant ?

surely he would have been better off employing one of them as opposed to spending his money on .40 cal guns and ridiculous cars ?

No one in the music business has ever avoided paying their tax before.

Say whaaaa?? I celeb hasn't paid his taxes?? Oh Heavens no, he's black too! What has the world come become?!?

lol, I still say he looks like Kermit the Frog!

Are you colour blind? Kermit is green where as Ja Rule is black.

Ignorance is no excuse for committing a crime, but his story is completely plausible and pretty sad.

honestly ? you would buy his excuse that is effectively 'well i didn't know i had to pay taxes and nobody told me'

i don't think i've ever met anyone in the developed world who is not aware that you pay taxes on earnings. i'm sure if he had really wanted to find out what to do with his money, he could have contacted his record label and said

'hey guys, i'm thick as s*** and have no idea what to do with all these new monies that i haz, could you help?'

i'm sure they could have put him in touch with an accountant.

I'm sure they could have, but I'm also sure a quality accountant was not on the top of his list.

You have to realize what kind of world he came from.

It's not like the government sends you any sort of notification that you need to pay taxes, not until after you are already in trouble that is.

apparently he was raised as a jehova's witness by his mother who was a health care worker. very gangsta.

anywho, that is not the point, i dunno about the IRS over your way but here if you owe HMRC money they write you a letter that says "dear sir, you owe us money, please pay it or you will go to jail" words to that effect anyway. do they not do that in the US ? do they just rock up to your door one day, shout SURPRISE and take you to jail ? 'cause that would be s***.

To be honest I am not entirely sure about the IRS process if you don't pay, I have never had to deal with it, nor have any of my clients. I will say though that I know once they contact you, you are already in trouble and at least owe fines and penalties. I'm not sure at what point those jump up to jail time.

Ja Rule is still alive?

Technically brown.....

no way, kermit is totally green.