Rapper Ja Rule has been released from prison after two years of confinement.
The 37-year-old was sentenced to 24 months for illegal gun possession and another 28 months for failing to pay his taxes, with the sentences running concurrently.
But he was released two months early on Tuesday on the tax evasion charge, and permitted to spend the balance of his sentence under home confinement.
The entertainer was picked up by his wife as he left the Ray Brook Correctional Facility in New York’s Adirondacks area.
“At present, he looks forward to spending some time with his family while he completes his memoir,” spokeswoman Melanie A. Bonvicino said in a statement to TMZ.
Ja Rule,whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, was released from state custody on the gun charge in February and transferred to the federal detention center to finish the remainder of his sentence for tax evasion.
He was previously incarcerated for 21 months in an upstate New York state prison.
Federal prosecutors have said that Ja Rule still owes the Internal Revenue Service $1.1million for failing to pay taxes on more than $3 million earned between 2004 and 2006.
In March 2011, he admitted in federal court that he failed to pay his taxes while he lived in Saddle River, New Jersey.
In the gun case, New York City police said they found a loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic gun in a rear door of Ja Rule’s $250,00 luxury car in 2007 after it was stopped for speeding. He pleaded guilty in 2010.
Ja Rule scored a Grammy award nomination in 2002 for the best rap album with Pain Is Love.
He also appeared in movies, including The Fast And The Furious in 2001 and Scary Movie 3 in 2003.
His other hits include Between Me And You with Christina Milian, Always On Time with Ashanti and Wonderful with R. Kelly and Ashanti.
