After almost five months, the saga of DMX's tax evasion trial has come to an end. According to ABC News, the beleaguered rapper pleads guilty to tax evasion charges, admitting that he'd engaged in a “multi-year scheme to conceal millions of dollars” from the IRS.

"Today, Earl Simmons admitted to systematically cheating on his taxes. By insisting to be paid in cash whenever possible and having royalty payments diverted to the accounts of financial surrogates, Simmons concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars of income from the IRS," said Joon H. Kim, who operates as the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, today (Nov. 30).

He continued, "Simmons made a choice between ‘Right or Wrong,’ and did the right thing, admitting his guilt, and agreeing to pay his tax liabilities. No matter who you are or whatever fame you may have achieved, the law applies equally to all, and no one is exempt from the shared obligation to pay our taxes."

Last July, the  U.S. Attorney's Office alleged that DMX used several surrogate bank accounts to conceal his true earnings from the IRS. If you know of X's colossally successful career up to 2005 or so, you're aware he seriously made bank, and now, he's essentially admitted to keeping $1.7 million away from the U.S. government.

“He’s of the opinion that he’s guilty because he didn’t properly supervise his own life," DMX's lawyer Murray Richman said of the rapper, who got himself sober over the course of his trial. "He gave the responsibility of paying his taxes to others but he knows it was his responsibility. He’s owning up to it at this particular point.”

X pled not guilty when he was first hit with 14 counts of tax evasion, and it was speculated that he'd face 44 years in a federal prison. Now, he's facing a maximum of five years in prison. As part of his plea deal, he has to pay restitution to the IRS.

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