Florida Sentinel Bulletin

NEWARK, NJ — Rapper and actor Ja Rule admitted Tuesday that he failed to pay taxes on more than $3 million in income, and he faces up to three years in prison.

The platinum-selling rapper, whose given name is Jeffrey Atkins, earned the money between 2004 and 2006 while he lived in an upscale community in northern New Jersey.

If the plea conditions are met, the government will dismiss two counts against him for unpaid taxes on about $1 million he earned in 2007 and 2008.

Atkins is scheduled to be sentenced June 13 on the three tax evasion charges. He faces up to one year in prison and $100,000 in fines on each count.

Five days before that, he is scheduled to report to prison in New York to serve a two-year sentence after pleading guilty in December to attempted criminal possession of a weapon.

Atkins’ attorney, Stacy Richman, is expected to file to have the tax evasion sentence served concurrently with the weapons sentence.

Atkins appeared in U.S. District Court in Newark dressed in a brown leather jacket, pullover and blue jeans. He answered a series of questions from U.S. Magistrate Patty Shwartz and Assistant U.S.

Attorney Joseph Mack about his income from 2004 to 2008, which reached $1.59 million in 2005 and gradually fell to $490,000 in 2008.

Rapper Soulja Boy revealed via Twitter that he is mourning the loss of his younger brother.

As of press time details are scarce but Soulja tweeted this:
“at home crying my eyes out I cant believe my Lil bro is gone…today is not my day.. RIP lil brother love you always  “

The Atlanta rapper later retweeted a condolence message from @CEOMiamiMike confirming his sibling’s death from an auto accident.

A lawsuit against legendary West coast producer Dr. Dre, claiming that he was responsible for the unlawful taping and production of private police conversation was thrown out in a Michigan Supreme Court.

The lawsuit was brought forth by Detroit Councilman Gary Brown who was a police official working the “Up In Smoke Tour” in 2000.

Brown claims his privacy was violated when he was recorded having a backstage meeting between officials and producers of the show.

The tour was headlined by Dre, Eminem, Snoop and Ice Cube.

Brown’s conversation was included on the Up In Smoke DVD titled “Detroit Controversy” which caused him and two other officers to file a $ 3 billion dollar lawsuit against Dr. Dre which has been dismissed three times by lower courts.

In a 6-1 ruling, the suit was again dismissed by the courts citing that there is no privacy for on duty officers.

The ruling means citizens have the state given right to film officers as they perform their jobs, giving citizens the ability to visually report officer misconduct and abuse. In states such as Illinois no such laws exist.

The beef between Russell Simmons and Bill Cosby continues… The two were attendees at the recent Jackie Robinson Annual Awards dinner.  Simmons wanted to speak with Cosby to end their feud which began when Simmons criticized Cosby’s 2009 “State Of Emergency” project, which included a rap album.

Simmons wrote a post on GlobalGrind.com about their confrontation at the awards dinner that has since been deleted.  In the post, Simmons claims that Cosby refused to talk to him. “I wanted to find him to apologize,” Simmons wrote, “to tell him I was sorry about my statements and to tell him that I loved him.”  Simmons was met with animosity from the Cos who reportedly told Uncle Russ to “get the f*ck out of my face.”

PHILADELPHIA — Two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington has been selected to deliver the commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania.

College officials announced Tuesday that Washington will address about 5,000 graduates and receive an honorary degree at the May 16 ceremony.

Washington’s son Malcolm is a sophomore at the Ivy League school in Philadelphia.

Penn President Amy Gutmann says the 56-year-old star of “Malcolm X,” “Glory” and “Philadelphia” has “used his tremendous talent as an actor to bring the most significant social and historical issues into the limelight.” She also praised Washington for his work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

What better way to set off the first ever Comedy Award show than to salute Eddie Murphy as the inaugural recipient of the Comedy Icon Award?

The Comedy Awards show will be aired April 10th on multiple MTV Networks outlets, including Comedy Central, Spike, CMT, TV Land, Logo and Nick at Nite.

Murphy started doing stand-up comedy in New York City and got his break performing in some of the most memorable sketches in Saturday Night Live history.

He then got into films and his notoriously funny, one man-movies, Delirious and Raw became classics that still impact the hip-hop community.

“From the characters he created on ‘SNL,’ to his groundbreaking stand-up performances and unforgettable film roles, Murphy changed the game forever.”

World famous hip-hop band, The Roots will be the house band for the evening and comedy stars such as Craig Robinson, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig and Tracy Morgan will be presenting at the event.

At a pre-Grammy party that took place at the house of producer Noel “Detail” Fisher in Canyon Country, CA, a female catering assistant who had been hired to provide food for the party, later claimed she was held inside the house against her will and sexually assaulted.

Lil Wayne happened to be there recording vocals that night, but his name was not mentioned in the police report.

Fisher, however has been accused of holding the woman overnight allegedly and she has also taken a rape test at the hospital with results pending.

Rapper Slim Thug is being sued by a man who claims the Houston MC pistol whipped him during a business meeting.

Clarence Evans of Harris County, Texas filed a lawsuit against the third coast rapper on March 18 claiming that he attended a meeting along with Slim Thug and several of the rapper’s associates when he was “without warning” beaten and pistol whipped by Thugger.

The suit also alleges that Slim Thug commanded his entourage to rob him of his belongings.

Evans is suing Slim Thug and his associate Raymond Thomas for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical disability and disfigurement.

Jermaine Jackson is stuck in Africa. While taking a trip to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Jackson realized that his passport expired, a situation that would normally be remedied by a trip to the U.S. Embassy. But because Jackson owes almost $100,000 in child support, he is currently stranded on the other side of the world until he either pays up, or the government makes an exception for him.

In May 2008, the mother of Jackson’s baby, Alejandra Oaziaza, filed a child support order against Jackson to pay $3,000 a month. As quickly as the order was filed, Jackson balked on the order, pushing his overall back payments to a staggering $91,921. In California, when someone owes more than $2,500, Child Services informs the FBI of the delinquency — a situation that can freeze a passport renewal.

Jackson’s passport will be renewed once he makes good on his debt, though the American Embassy has been known to make exceptions for U.S. citizens by issuing temporary papers in certain circumstances.

In December 2010, Jackson’s driver license was confiscated because he was unable to pay his child support payments. In September, he asked the judge to cut back his monthly sum from $3,000 to $215, as he was unable to afford the cost.