Platinum-selling rapper Ja Rule was has leftlan upstate prison after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession, but is heading straight into federal custody in a tax case.
U.S. Marshals escorted the 36-year-old out of Mid-State Correctional Facility at 9:30 a.m. 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 $1.1 million in back taxes is one of the main reasons he wants to get back to work.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
