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Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but DMX is in trouble with the law. No it’s not that time he was arrested for resisting arrest. Or reckless driving. Nope, not that time he was bagged for drug possession, or identity falsification. Or that time back in 2008 when deputies raided DMX’s home and seized 12 pit bulls after receiving reports that they were being abused.
This time it’s something far more white collar: tax fraud.
According to Reuters, the multi-platinum hip-hop icon pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court to avoiding paying $1.7 million in taxes from 2000 to 2005. He did so stealthily, by transferring money among accounts belonging to managers and colleagues.
“I failed to file taxes,” the rapper told U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. “I’m responsible, even placing other people in charge of it.”
DMX, born Earl Simmons, was accused by prosecutors of executing tax fraud by living a “cash only lifestyle” and depositing royalty checks into the accounts of several managers, his ex-wife, and the mother of one of his 15 children., Complex reports.
Mr. X’s sentencing will occur in March 2018. The 46-year-old faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and $100,000 in fines. Oh, and he’ll also have to pay back the $1.7 million in back taxes.
This is just the latest financial disaster for DMX, who back in 2013, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing his child support obligations as his priority claim. The filing was later dismissed after being challenged by the Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog trustee program.