Busta Rhymes Gets Probation On Gun Charge

A Manhattan judge sentenced rap singer Busta Rhymes to a previously agreed five years probation on Friday after he pleaded guilty to a gun possession charge last year for carrying an unregistered .45-caliber pistol in his car, according to Reuters.

The 27-year-old Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor Smith, pleaded guilty to the gun charge in May 1999 after police who stopped his 1995 Mercedes Benz found a loaded pistol in the car.

Rhymes pleaded guilty before Manhattan Supreme Court Herbert Adlerberg and faced up to seven years in prison had he been convicted at trial.

At the time of his scheduled sentencing in September 1999, Rhymes was under investigation for allegedly violating a protective order to stay away from a former girlfriend who is the mother of his 7-year-old son.

The girlfriend, Joanne Wood of Hempstead, Long Island, had Rhymes arrested and accused him of not paying child support for his son, T'ziah, charges that he denied.

Because of the pending investigation, Adlerberg deferred imposing the sentence for one year and ordered Rhymes to report to his court every two months until the family situation was resolved.