Ja Rule’s imminent incarceration has become just that. On Wednesday June 8th he will be commencing a two year sentence at an upstate New York correctional facility. The Murder Inc. Rapper will be turning himself in after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon charges.
Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins was arrested after a New York city concert in 2007 where he had been performing with Lil Wayne. Weezy was also arrested that night on similar possession charges and served a one year sentence on Riker’s Island after pleading guilty.
In an interview with MTV’s Sway last month, Ja Rule revealed his regret over his jail sentence; “I’m disappointed”, he continued; “I’m mad at myself.” The rapper spoke candidly about his concerns for his family when he is no longer a free man; “My daughter, she’s 15 now”, Rule described this pivotal time in her life; “these are her last couple of years, she’s about to graduate from high school and she’s going to college. She needs her father. My boys really need me right now too, as well as my wife.”
Ja Rule hopes that youngsters can learn from him, not to emulate his wayward antics and make the same mistakes. He looked for the positive in the situation; “this is something that’s bad but there’s gotta be some good that comes out of it” he remarked. “Even if there are other kids that look at me and say, ‘Let me put my burner down.’ Even if it’s that then there is something learned from these mistakes.”
This is Ja Rule’s debut stint behind bars and his fans will be hoping he can defy the unwritten rule of repeat offending by rappers, so this can be his first and last encounter with an orange jumpsuit.
