MOBB DEEP - RAPPER PRODIGY SENTENCED TO PRISON

RAPPER PRODIGY SENTENCED TO PRISON

MOBB DEEP rapper PRODIGY has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years behind bars after pleading guilty to a weapons charge dating back to 2006. The G-Unit star - real name Albert Johnson - was indicted on one charge of gun possession at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York on Tuesday (09Oct07). The charge relates to Johnson's arrest last October (06), when New York cops pulled over his Chevy Suburban Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) for making an illegal u-turn. A search of the car turned up an unlicensed .22-caliber pistol. The 32-year-old initially claimed he had no knowledge of the weapon, which was found in a compartment between his driver's seat and the front passenger seat, where hip-hop producer The Alchemist was sitting, reports the New York Daily News. But midway through trial proceedings, Johnson confessed to ownership of the gun and struck a deal with prosecutors. The agreement limited his jail term to just three-and-a-half years instead of the usual 15 - the sentence normally given to felons like Prodigy who are facing their third weapons charge.