Ja Rule sentenced to 28 months in jail for tax charges

Ja Rule has been sentenced to 28 months behind bars for tax offences.

The rapper pleaded guilty in March to three counts of tax evasion and agreed to pay $1,137,912 (£696,081) in earned cash from tours and music royalties between 2004-2008.

After appearing in a New Jersey federal court on Monday, Ja Rule - born Jeffrey Atkins - was handed the 28-month sentence to run concurrent with the two years he is currently serving behind bars on gun possession charges.

Ja Rule's lawyer Stacey Richman told MTV News in a statement: "We were all very concerned about what the potentials were, and we think that the outcome was very fair and that the court took him into account as an individual, and we appreciate that tremendously."

He previously described his gun possession sentence as a "minor setback" which would precede a "major comeback" of his music career.

Ja Rule opened up about the crime just days before surrendering himself to begin the jail term, saying: "Laws are laws. There's nothing I could really do but own up to the situation.

"You know, I try not to regret anything I do in life, because you go through life and you do things, and you man up to them. You own them."