Ja Rule Will Not Go to Jail Until He Finishes Movie, Lawyer Says

Earlier today (December 13) Ja Rule pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon, but the New York rapper will not be going behind bars anytime soon. XXLMag.com just got off the phone with his lawyer, Stacey Richman, who says she managed to work out a deal with the district attorney to keep him free until he finishes some prior business agreements.

As previously reported, Ja will be sentenced to two years at his next court appearance on February 9, 2011, but Richman assures XXLMag.com that he will not have to begin his time immediately after. “It’s part of our discussions with the district attorney’s office,” she explained of the arrangement. “You have to think whenever you’re taking care of a person of this caliber with these type of commitments you have to anticipate their business commitments also.”

“We have fought long and hard on the situation and they have agreed in regard to these commitments,” she continued. “I mean he has a film to do. There are certain concerts to do.”

As of press time it is uncertain exactly when Rule will be begin to serve his sentence but the movie he is working on will not begin filming until March of 2011.

Ja was arrested on July 22, 2007 when police found an unlicensed.40 caliber handgun in the backseat of his Maybach, following a traffic stop. Hours before the arrest, he was onstage with Lil Wayne at a concert at Manhattan’s Beacon Theater. Weezy was also picked up on the same day for possession of the same caliber pistol. The Young Money leader, who shares the same laywer as Rule, also eventually pleaded guilty to the attempted weapons possession charges. He served eight months in the case on good behavior and was just released last month.

Richman told XXL that the rap vet will most likely only have to serve 18 to 20 months of the two year sentence, if he doesn’t cause any problems behind bars.

Stay tuned to XXLMag.com as the story develops. —Jesse Gissen

Check out our interview with Ja Rule from last August where he speaks on the case below.