It's all downhill from here, Kim

Rapper Lil' Kim sentenced to year in prison - NEW YORK (Reuters)

Rapper Lil' Kim was sentenced on Wednesday to 12 months and a day in prison after admitting she was wrong to lie to a grand jury investigating two of her friends involved in a 2001 shooting outside a radio station. She was also fined $50,000. The sentence was lenient compared to the 33 months that prosecutors sought in the high-profile case, which shed light on some of the complex rivalries in the hip-hop world. Lil' Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, was convicted in March of conspiracy and perjury for lying to a grand jury. The three perjury counts and the conspiracy charge carried maximum sentences of five years each. Before her sentencing in federal district court in Manhattan, the Grammy Award-winning artist made a plea for leniency, admitting what she did was wrong. "I testified falsely to the grand jury and during the trial. At the time, I thought it was the right thing to do. Now I know it was wrong," she said in court. She is due to report to jail on Sept. 19. U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch said he took into consideration that Lil' Kim admitted her guilt. "You are sending that message that telling the truth has an important value," he said, noting such unsolved cases as rapper Tupac Shakur, who was gunned down in 1996. "Going to jail to protect violent men with guns is not heroic." Lil' Kim apologized for putting a burden on her friends and family. "This is by far the toughest thing I have ever had to go through," she told the judge in a quivering voice. "I am a God-fearing, good person."

DB says: God-fearing person, my ass. Serves you right to suffer, Kim. Die laatste vuilbekkende platen waren immers wel érg middelmatig. Plus: het schaarsgeklede opdondertje Lil' Kim bereikte sowieso het hoogtepunt van haar carrière eind vorig jaar al, toen ze opgenomen werd als één van de te ontrafelen mystery foto's tijdens Detroit Breakdown Music Quiz Volume II.