Lil’ Wayne Facing Up To 10 Years In Prison After Pleading Guilty In Handgun Case
Lil Wayne is looking at serious prison time after pleading guilty to a federal weapons charge. He was caught carrying loaded handgun in his bag aboard a private flight into Miami.
Lil Wayne‘s fans might not be getting any new albums from the rapper for awhile, because he could be doing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal weapons charge. In paperwork obtained by HollywoodLife.com, he entered the plea on Dec. 11 in Miami, and sentencing is scheduled for next month, in Jan. 2021. The 38-year-old already has a conviction on another felony gun charge to his name, which occurred in NY in 2009. HollywoodLife.com has reached out to Wayne’s reps for comment about the plea.
Wayne — full name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. — was busted after flying in on a private jet to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on December 23, 2019, after someone called in an anonymous tip to authorities. Wayne fessed up to police to having a gold-plated Remington 1911, .45-caliber handgun loaded with six rounds of ammunition in one of his bags. He also allegedly had a “bag containing personal use amounts of cocaine, ecstasy, and oxycodone,” according to TMZ, but he wasn’t brought up on any drug charges.
Wayne may not be doing a whole decade in prison, even though that is the maximum sentence. Since the rapper cooperated and pled guilty in the case, TMZ‘s sources say that “the government agreed to recommend a lighter sentence because he’s accepting responsibility,” but it will be up to a judge to make the final call.
The “Sucker for Pain” rapper wasn’t brought up on the firearm charges until Nov. 18, 2020, almost a year after he was found carrying the weapon in his luggage. He was charged in the Southern District of Miami Federal Court with criminal possession of a firearm and ammunition, as a prior felony offender.
Rapper Lil Wayne performs at the HOT 97 Summer Jam 2018 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Photo credit: AP.
After the charge, rapper turned mogul 50 Cent trolled Wayne hard about his controversial Oct. 29 endorsement of President Donald Trump, less than a week before the Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election. Wayne even met with Trump, and the two men posed together for a photo with bright smiles.
Fiddy wrote, “Wait a minute. Trump still got 63 days left. Call him, Wayne. Get that fool on the phone. [facepalm emoji]. They gonna try to put you in jail for supporting trump.” Even though Trump lost the election to Joe Biden and is now a lame duck, the 74-year-old could still give Wayne a presidential pardon following his guilty plea, where he would never have to see the the inside of a jail cell as a result. So in the next 40 days until Biden’s Jan. 20, 2021 swearing in, Wayne could still catch a break if his pal Trump comes to his rescue.