American rapper Earl Simmons, popularly known as DMX, was sentenced to one-year in prison for a $1.7m (£1.2m) tax evasion after he insisted he wasn’t “like a criminal in a comic book” trying to scheme against the government.
The rapper persuaded the judge to listen to one of his hit tracks to illustrate how tough his life had been.
He and some of his supporters nodded to the beat of “Slippin” as it played in a packed courtroom in Manhattan.
Simmons had pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion but disputed the prosecution’s claim that he deliberately avoided tax by living a “cash lifestyle”, and by concealing his wealth during a bankruptcy hearing.
He said he did not steal the money “like a criminal in a comic book,” and acknowledged that the tax should be paid.
Prosecutors had been pushing for a five-year prison sentence, but Judge Rakoff settled on one year for someone he described as a “good man” who had been “his own worst enemy.”
The father of four had also battled drug habit.
DMX sobbed in the dock as he asked for leniency so he could spend more time with his 18-month-old son, who has a medical condition that has already required two operations.
His lawyer, Murray Richman, wanted DMX to be free so he could support his children and pay back the tax money he had avoided, but Judge Rakoff said his crime could not go unpunished.
The judge, however, said he did buy the rapper’s claim that he did not know the severity of his offense.
He also criticised prosecutors for trying to make him appear like a “villain in a comic book”.
In addition to the one-year jail term, he ordered DMX to pay $2.3m (£1.6m) to make up for the tax evasion.
