Ja Rule Pleads Guilty to $3M Tax Evasion

(CBS/AP) Rapper Ja Rule admitted Tuesday that he failed to pay taxes on over $3 million in income earned between 2004 and 2006. He faces three years in prison.

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Ja Rule (given name Jeffrey Atkins) earned the money from royalties and live performance-related income paid to two companies, ASJA Inc. and Rule towers Inc., both of which Atkins allegedly owns, according to U.S. Attorney's office. At the time, he was also living in Saddle River, an upscale community in northern New Jersey.

As part of a plea agreement, the government will dismiss two counts against him for unpaid taxes on $1 million he earned between 2007 and 2008.

The platinum-selling rapper is scheduled to be sentenced in court June 13 for three tax evasion charges. He faces $100,000 fines and up to a year in prison.

Five days prior, the 35-year-old rapper faced a two-year prison sentence in New York after pleading guilty for attempted criminal weapon possession in December. This resulted from charges in July 2007 when police said they found a loaded gun in the rear door of his luxury sports car at a traffic stop following a concert at New York's Beacon Theater.

Atkins' attorney, Stacy Richman, is expected to file to have the two sentences - tax evasion and weapon possession - served concurrently.

Atkins pleaded guilty at a U.S. District Court in Newark. He wore a brown leather jacket, a pullover and blue jeans. A series of questions about his income between 2004 and 2008 by U.S. Magistrate Patty Shwartz and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mack revealed that Atkins earned around $1.59 million in 2005 and $490,000 in 2008.

The government estimated the unpaid taxes from those years totaled more than $1.1 million.

When asked how he felt about the charges, Atkins simply stated, "I feel great," as he stepped into a waiting car. Richman added that her client surrendered voluntarily and is willing to pay the delinquent taxes.

"He's been working on addressing these issues for some time and he's taking full responsibility," she said.

Atkins was nominated for "Best Rap Album" in 2002 for "Pain is Love" and was featured in several movies, including "The Fast and the Furious" (2001) and "Scary Movie 3" (2003).