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"I guess I'm surprised, caused I worked so hard to not end up in court, that I'm here," he said. "This is the last place I thought I would be." The rapper once topped the Billboard 100 chart with hits like the duet "What's Luv" with the R&B singer Ashanti. He said he had recently signed a record deal in hopes of making money to pay back his arrears. Defense Attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said outside federal court that Cartagena had liquidated his retirement account to start paying the money back. In addition to the prison term, Cartagena was sentenced to one year of supervised release and fined $15,000. He must report to prison by Aug. 26. The federal courthouse in Newark has recently been the setting for several tax cases involving well-known musicians. The Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill was sentenced in May to three months in prison for failing to pay about $1 million in taxes over the past decade. Two sons of the founders of the Sugar Hill Records hip-hop recording label were sentenced in May to probation for failing to file taxes.
[Associated
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