It’s official: Rapper Beanie Sigel will be returning to jail. Today, a federal judge sentenced Sigel to two years behind bars for tax-related crimes.
As reported in April, Sigel, whose real name is Dwight Grant, pleaded guilty in 2011 to failing to file federal income tax returns for 2003, 2004 and 2005. Last year, the IRS indicated that Sigel failed to pay federal income taxes on more than $1 million in income.
Federal prosecutors were seeking the maximum sentence of three years, claiming that Sigel has “utterly failed to cooperate” with attempts to assess his financial status. Sigel was also accused of failing to make any payments, even though the feds have granted him extra time between his plea and his sentencing so that he could continue to earn a living and perhaps pay back some of the money he owes.
Sigel claimed, in his defense, that he did not live lavishly at the expense of paying his taxes. Instead, the rapper, who previously served time on federal drug and gun offenses, blamed family members for spending his cash while he was in jail in 2004 and 2005 (he escaped additional jail time in 2005 when he was acquitted on charges of attempted murder).
That wasn’t enough for U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois who sentenced Sigel to two years in federal prison. The rapper must also repay his taxes together with penalty and interest.
Hopefully, Sigel will make enough on his upcoming collaboration album, Mac N Brad: The First 48, with rapper Scarface, to make a dent in his tax bill.
Sigel must surrender to prison officials to begin his sentence on September 12.
