Ja Rule was freed from a New York prison earlier this month after serving almost two years on a gun charge, but he’s not in the clear yet.
The 36-year old rapper was actually given two sentences to run concurrently and still has a 28-month federal tax evasion sentence to serve. For now, he’s been transferred to Oneida County Jail while he waits to hear where he’ll serve out those months, and is hoping to be able to do the time from a halfway house. His lawyers are hopeful that he’ll only have to do about six more months, max.
“There’s a lot of anticipation knowing that he’s so close to the end of it … and frustration,” attorney Stacey Richman said. “He knew he wasn’t getting out today, but his spirits have been extraordinary throughout. A lot of people want to work with him.”
The gun charge stemmed from a 2007 arrest, during which officers found a handgun with the serial number scratched off hidden in the backseat of the rapper’s car. He pleaded guilty to that charge in 2010.
After the tax sentence is carried out, Ja Rule will be on four years probation. His lawyer says that after that, it’s up to him what happens.
“He just lives his life and just has to not do anything wrong,” she said.