Ja Rule

Ja Rule
Born:	1976-02-29 Queens, New York
Charges:	Failure to file federal income tax returns (3 counts)
Sentence:	28 months
Facility:	FCI Fort Dix
Status:	Released

Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), known professionally as Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s with hit songs including Always on Time, Mesmerize, and Im Real. In July 2011, Ja Rule was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison for failing to file income tax returns with the IRS for multiple years.

Early Life and Music Career

Jeffrey Atkins was born on February 29, 1976, in Queens, New York. He adopted the stage name Ja Rule and began his music career in the mid-1990s, initially as part of the hip-hop group Cash Money Click before pursuing a solo career.

Ja Rule rose to mainstream success with the release of his second album, Rule 3:36 (2000), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. He became known for his distinctive raspy voice and for collaborations with female artists including Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez, and Mary J. Blige. His hits Always on Time (featuring Ashanti), Mesmerize (featuring Ashanti), and Im Real (remix with Jennifer Lopez) all reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

At the peak of his career, Ja Rule was one of the best-selling hip-hop artists in the world, with albums selling millions of copies and multiple Grammy Award nominations.

Legal Troubles

State Gun Possession Charge

In 2007, Ja Rule was arrested in New York City after police found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in his car following a concert. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to two years in state prison. He began serving this sentence at Rikers Island in June 2011 before being transferred to Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

Federal Tax Evasion Charges

While facing the state gun charge, Ja Rule was also indicted on federal tax evasion charges. Prosecutors alleged that from 2004 through 2008, Atkins earned substantial income from royalties through ASJA Inc. and performance income from Rule Tours Inc. but failed to file federal income tax returns for any of those years, evading approximately $1.1 million in taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.

In December 2010, Ja Rule pleaded guilty to three counts of failure to file income tax returns before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz in Newark federal court.

Sentencing

On July 18, 2011, Magistrate Judge Shwartz sentenced Ja Rule to 28 months in federal prison, to be served largely concurrent with his state sentence for the gun charge.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Shwartz stated: Taxpayers do not have the luxury of deciding whether to comply with laws. She noted that Ja Rules failure to file returns was a deliberate choice, not an oversight.

In addition to the prison term, Ja Rule was ordered to:

• Pay back taxes, penalties, and interest totaling approximately $1.1 million
• Serve one year of supervised release following his imprisonment

Although he pleaded guilty to charges related only to 2004, 2005, and 2006, Ja Rule agreed to pay back taxes and penalties for all five years of non-filing.

Incarceration

Ja Rule served the initial portion of his sentence at Oneida Correctional Facility in New York, where he was serving his state sentence for the weapons charge. In February 2013, after completing most of his state sentence, he was released from state custody and immediately transferred to federal custody to complete his federal sentence.

He served the remainder of his federal sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix (FCI Fort Dix) in New Jersey, a low-security federal prison. Ja Rule completed his federal sentence and was released in May 2013, after which he served a period of home confinement before returning fully to public life.

Life After Release

Following his release from prison, Ja Rule returned to the music industry and entertainment business. He released new music and performed at concerts, though he did not recapture the commercial success of his early 2000s peak.

Fyre Festival Controversy

In 2017, Ja Rule became embroiled in controversy as a co-founder of the Fyre Festival, a fraudulent luxury music festival in the Bahamas that collapsed spectacularly when attendees arrived to find inadequate accommodations and no musical acts. While the festivals primary organizer, Billy McFarland, was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in prison, Ja Rule was not charged criminally. He maintained that he was also a victim of McFarlands fraud.

The Fyre Festival disaster became the subject of two competing documentaries released in 2019 on Netflix and Hulu, both of which featured Ja Rules involvement in the failed event.

Continued Career

Ja Rule has continued to perform and release music, including albums and singles aimed at his established fan base. He has also appeared on reality television programs and pursued various business ventures.