Lil Wayne pleads guilty after officers found .45-caliber gold-plated handgun and six rounds of ammunition concealed in his private jet - and he now faces up to TEN years behind bars
Rapper Lil Wayne is facing up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge that he possessed a handgun despite being a convicted felon.
The rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter, entered the plea on Friday during a hearing held remotely before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who is based in South Florida.
Williams set a sentencing date for January 28. Carter is currently free on $250,000 bail but has had to surrender his passport.
The 38-year-old rapper acknowledged possessing a .45- caliber, gold-plated handgun and six rounds of ammunition after his luggage was searched by federal agents at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on December 23, 2019.
At the time, Carter had just arrived on a private jet that flew in from California.
A search warrant said Carter told investigators the gun was a Father' s Day gift.
Carter already has a felony gun conviction dating back to 2009.
He was sentenced to eight months in a New York prison for that offense, and convicted felons are subsequently barred under federal law from possessing firearms.
Rapper Lil Wayne is facing up to ten years in prison after pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he possessed a handgun despite being a convicted felon. He recently made headlines by throwing his support behind Donald Trump's re-election bid
The private jet was searched by agents when it landed in Florida from California on December 23. Wayne is pictured above on a private jet in January of this year
Carter's lawyer, Howard Srebnick, said he considered a motion to suppress the search of the plane as a violation of the rapper's constitutional rights.
Carter, he said, wanted to accept responsibility.
'I must say I thought it was a very viable motion. He has decided not to pursue a motion to suppress,' Srebnick said.
Srebnick previously argued that the circumstances were fit for Supreme Court review because the issue of a convicted felon possessing a gun hadn't been decided as a constitutional question under the Second Amendment.
He noted an opinion from Justice Amy Coney Barrett, prior to her being confirmed to the Supreme Court last month, in which she argued that only dangerous felons should be stripped of their rights to bear arms under the Second Amendment.
Carter already has a felony gun conviction dating back to 2009. He was sentenced to eight months in a New York prison for that offence, and convicted felons are subsequently barred under federal law from possessing firearms. He is pictured in a 2008 mugshot
'Although the Supreme Court has not yet decided the constitutional question, Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently wrote an appellate dissenting opinion in which she stated that 'absent evidence that he either belongs to a dangerous category or bears individual markers of risk, permanently disqualifying [a convicted felon] from possessing a gun violates the Second Amendment'.'
The opinion was not related to the rapper's specific case.
Pictured: A Gulfstream G-V similar to the plane Lil Wayne flew from California to Florida
The Miami U.S. attorney's office also said in the news release that investigators found small amounts of cocaine, ecstasy, and oxycodone in a bag belonging to Carter, but he was not charged with any drug crime.
Carter recently made headlines by throwing his support behind Donald Trump's re-election bid. He even met and posed for a photo with the President.
As Lil Wayne, Carter has sold over 120 million records, won five Grammys and numerous other music awards. He owns a home in Miami Beach and is CEO of his own record label, Young Money Entertainment.
As Lil Wayne, Carter has sold over 120 million records, won five Grammys and numerous other music awards. He is pictured in January
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