Ja Rule Leaves Prison for Federal Custody

Ja Rule Leaves Prison for Federal Custody

Ja Rule might be out of prison, but he isn't a free man yet. The rapper left a New York prison Thursday morning after serving the majority of his sentence for illegal gun possession and headed straight to federal custody in a tax case, The Associated Press reports.

Ja Rule is waiting at New York's Oneida County Jail to learn from the Federal Bureau of Prisons about where he will serve his sentence for the $1.1 million in back taxes he owes.

The "Put It On Me" rapper was arrested in 2007 after police found a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in his car during a traffic stop. He pleaded guilty in 2010 and was sentenced to two years in prison, most of which he served in Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy.

In 2011, Ja Rule was hit with even more jail time - 28-months' worth- when he plead guilty to three counts of failing to pay taxes on the more than $3 million he earned from 2004 to 2006.

"I, in no way, attempted to deceive the government or do anything illegal," Ja Rule told the judge at the time. "I was a young man who made a lot of money - I'm getting a little choked up - I didn't know how to deal with these finances, and I didn't have people to guide me, so I made mistakes."

Before prison, Ja Rule earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album for Pain Is Love in 2002 and recorded memorable collaborations with Ashanti and Jennifer Lopez. Ja Rule also appeared in The Fast and the Furious and Scary Movie 3.