Platinum-selling rapper Ja Rule has left a New York state prison after
serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession, but he
is heading straight into federal custody in a tax evasion case. US
Marshals escorted the 36-year-old out of Mid-State Correctional
Facility on Thursday. It wasn't immediately clear where he'll serve time
in the tax case.
The rapper, who had been in protective custody
because of his celebrity, has some time remaining on a 28-month sentence
for tax evasion. His lawyer says Ja Rule, whose real name is
Jeffrey Atkins, may have less than six months left and may be eligible
for a halfway house. An order to pay $1.1m in back taxes is one reason he wants to get back to work.
