Kimberly Jones, aka Lil' Kim, was sentenced yesterday to serve a year and a day in federal prison and pay a $50,000 fine for perjury after she made a surprise admission in the courtroom that she had lied to a grand jury during her trial.
Ms. Jones appeared a far cry from her "Queen Bee," defiant bad-girl image during the trail and according to news reports expressed remorse for her actions.
"I testified falsely during the grand jury and at trial," she told the sentencing judge, Gerard E. Lynch, in a brief statement. "At the time I thought it was the right thing to do, but I now know it was wrong." (The New York Times)
Kim, 30, faced a maximum of 20 years in jail for the four perjury counts on which she was convicted back in March. Although the prosecutors had asked for a sentence of at least two years and nine months, the Judge Lynch, who repeatedly compared the rapper to Martha Stewart, wanted to be careful not to treat Kim more severely than the domestic icon who he said "happens to be older and whiter and whose entertainment following is richer."
Judge Lynch went on to express his concern that the rapper's fans would cry discrimination and receive a wrong message from her sentence if he imposed a far harsher prison term than Ms. Stewart's on "a younger African-American woman who is popular with a different segment of society."
Kim was found guilty of lying in her testimony before a grand jury about a shootout among rival rappers on Feb. 25, 2001, in front of the Hot 97 a radio station, located in Lower Manhattan.
It was reported that the petite-sized hip-hop star accepted "complete blame" yesterday for the actions of her friend and co-defendant, Monique Dopwell, 32, who was also convicted of perjury, all while claiming that "I am a good, God-fearing person."
Reports did not indicate where Kim will serve out her sentence, although Judge Lynch asked that she be sent to a prison not far from her home in the New York. The rapper will have to surrender on Sept. 19.
According to the New York Times, the judge told Kim that she should make better use of her position as a role model for her many fans, even those who had said she would enhance her hip-hop cachet by doing some time in jail.
"Going to jail because you lied to protect violent men with guns is not heroic," Judge Lynch said. "It's stupid and it's wrong." (The New York Times)
Like other [male] rappers before her, Lil' Kim anticipated her jail stay and has been hitting the studio hard in recenct months preparing to release an album in August. The first single is called "Shut Up." Wonder who she's talking to.
-TA
-picture courtesy of The New York Times
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