Money is an issue – and that’s on the fa shizzle…
It feels like rapper Beanie Sigel is channeling the 2002 track “Guess Who’s Back” (on Scarface’s album The Fix, featuring Sigel and Jay-Z), all over again.
Sigel, whose real name is Dwight Grant, is currently awaiting sentencing on tax troubles. The Philadelphia rapper 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 nearly $350,000 in federal income taxes on more than $1 million in income; the amount claimed as owed now is more than twice that amount.
Federal prosecutors are seeking the maximum sentence of three years with Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Gray claiming that Sigel has “utterly failed to cooperate” with attempts to assess his financial status. Gray also indicated that Sigel had failed to file income tax returns for more than ten years, despite the fact that he was making millions of dollars – much of it while in prison on other charges. Of course, repayment of back taxes plus any applicable penalty and interest will certainly be part of any punishment for Sigel.
Sigel’s attorney, Fortunato Perri, Jr., has reportedly denied that the amount is accurate, claiming that the amount in question is less than $300,000. He’ll argue his case on tomorrow when Sigel returns to Philadelphia for sentencing.
Sigel is expected to hear an earful as Gray will argue that Sigel has been uncooperative and has failed to make payments, even though the feds 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. Some of that money is expected to come from Mack and Brad, LP, a collaborative album with – you guessed it – Scarface.
If Gray were smart, he’d open with a line or two that Sigel might remember:
It’s a new game doin’ lemme give you the rules:
Get outta line and I’ma give ya the blues…
