Fat Joe was sentenced today to four months in federal prison today (June 24) for failing to pay taxes on nearly $3 million of income during a two-year period, according to cliffviewpilot.com. The rapper, whose given name is Joseph Cartagena, was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and faces one year of supervised release, according to the report.
The 42-year-old rapper pled guilty to tax evasion in December and said that he would pay what he owed. “At the end of the day, I’m paying all the money back that’s owed—actually I have and I’ma just go like a man, stand up,” he said during a May interview with MTV’s “RapFix Live.” “You gotta understand we hire guys who are supposed have Harvard degrees to take care of us.”
Yet federal prosecutors said Fat Joe failed to pay taxes on income from 2007 through 2010, which the judge considered during sentencing, according to cliffviewpilot.com.
Fat Joe remains free on $250,000 bail and must report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons August 26 to begin serving his sentence, according to the report. The Bronx, New York rapper apologized to his family, friends and fans before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy Waldor handed down the sentence, according to the report.
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A member of the Diggin’ In The Crates collective, Fat Joe released the single “Flow Joe” in 1993. Through his Terror Squad company and in conjunction with Loud Records, Fat Joe released Big Pun‘s 1998 album, Capital Punishment, which was certified platinum. Fat Joe has also collaborated with Jennifer Lopez, R. Kelly and others throughout his career.
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