Rapper DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, has been released from prison.
A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to CNN that the X Gon’ Give It To Ya rapper was released from federal prison on Jan. 25.
The 48-year-old rapper went to jail in January 2018 on a bail violation, after he previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion in November 2017.
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According to Vulture, while DMX’s release date from West Virginia’s Gilmer Federal Correctional Institution is listed as Jan. 27, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has a policy to release inmates on the weekday before their release date if their original release date falls during a weekend.
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In 2017, DMX pleaded guilty in federal court to avoiding paying US$1.7 million in taxes from 2000 to 2005 by shifting money among accounts belonging to managers and associates.
DMX pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of tax fraud. Prosecutors had accused him of hiding millions of dollars he earned from hit songs, including X Gon’ Give it to Ya and Where the Hood At.
“I failed to file taxes,” DMX said to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. “I‘m responsible, even placing other people in charge of it.”
Prosecutors had been seeking five years imprisonment, citing DMX’s lengthy rap sheet, but the judge handed down a one-year sentence, calling him “a good man.” The judge also said, “In many ways, he’s his own worst enemy.”
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Prosecutors said that DMX paid royalty cheques into the bank accounts of other people to avoid paying taxes.
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The rap star’s prior arrest record includes charges of animal cruelty, reckless driving, drug possession, weapons charges and probation violations. He has had several felony convictions and served prison time in Arizona.
Along with his rap career, Simmons has starred in such films as the 1998 crime drama Belly, the 2000 action movie Romeo Must Die and the 2003 heist film Cradle 2 The Grave.
— With files from Associated Press
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