NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Rapper DMX pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court to one count of tax fraud.
DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, told the court that he had failed to pay taxes to the tune of $1.7 million and placed other people in charge of a scheme to avoid said taxes.
“I failed to file taxes,” Simmons told said to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, according to Reuters. “I‘m responsible, even placing other people in charge of it.”
Simmons was arrested in July, with prosecutors alleged that Simmons evaded taxes by living a cash-only lifestyle and using the bank accounts of managers and family members to conceal royalty payments. At the time of his arrest, he pleaded not guilty released on a $500,000 bond, with bail conditions that restricted him to New York. However, Judge Rakoff relented and gave him permission to perform several shows in Denver, Los Angeles, and New Orleans.
Simmons faces up to five years in prison, with an additional three years of supervised release. He also faces as much as $100,000 in fines and is required to repay the $1.7 million in unpaid taxes.
Simmons faces sentencing in the case on March 29th.
