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Rapper Ja Rule Set to Begin 2-Year Prison Sentence on Gun Plea

By DNAinfo Staff on June 7, 2011 7:39pm

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Rapper Ja Rule is expected to begin a two year prison sentence Wednesday on a gun possession guilty plea stemming from a 2007 traffic stop.

The performer, whose real name is Jeff Atkins, admitted to having a loaded firearm when his $250,000 Maybach was stopped by police on West End Avenue on July 22, 2007.

The 35-year-old artist pleaded guilty to attempted weapons possession in the second degree on Dec. 13, in exchange for the promised sentence of two years behind bars.

The same night Atkins was arrested, Lil' Wayne's tour bus was stopped and searched after police said they smelled marijuana.

He was was found to have a weapon and was charged with gun possession. Wayne, also known as Dwayne Carter, was released after serving eight months at Rikers Island on a guilty plea.

Both artists had been leaving the same concert at the Beacon Theatre when they were arrested. 

Atkins also recently pleaded guilty to a $3 million tax evasion charge in New Jersey, according to reports. It is unclear whether the sentences in each case will overlap in any way.

The Queens native, who has been free on bail since his arrest, is due to go before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Richard Carruthers on Wednesday to be sentenced to prison.

The artist spent the time before his sentencing working on a new album, his lawyer said in March.