New York- Racy rapper Lil’ Kim will soon be wearing prison stripes after a federal judge sentenced her to a year and a day behind bars for perjury – and compared her case to that of another convicted celebrity liar, Martha Stewart.
Prosecutors hoped to send the busty, 4-foot-11 “Queen Bee” to the slammer for 33 to 41 months for lying to a grand jury – but Lil’ Kim scored with the judge by admitting for the first time she had repeatedly lied under oath.
In rejecting the feds’ request for a heftier sentence, Manhattan federal Judge Gerard Lynch anticipated that the public would wonder why a young black rapper would get significantly more time for lying than did the white Domestic Diva.
Stewart was hit with a 10-month sentence – half of it served via home confinement.
“Do you think I could justify a sentence seven times that of another entertainer who happens to be older and whiter and whose following is richer?” Lynch said.
Still, the judge found Lil’ Kim deserved a somewhat stiffer punishment than Stewart, finding the rapper’s crime was much more serious because she was covering up a shootout, not financial wrongdoing.
He added that Kim – whose real name is Kimberly Jones – lied three times under oath to a grand jury and then again at trial.
Lil’ Kim was arrested last year on charges of committing perjury when questioned about a 2001 shoot-up involving two members of her posse outside radio station Hot 97’s West Village studios.
The gun battle – which included a barrage of more than 20 bullets – erupted when Lil’ Kim’s entourage crossed paths with rival rapper Capone and several friends.
Lil’ Kim defiantly denied she had seen her two gun-toting pals at the scene, and later publicly accused prosecutors of launching a witch hunt.
At her trial earlier this year, she voluntarily took the witness stand and repeatedly told jurors, “I did not lie.”
The jury didn’t buy it and convicted her on three counts of perjury and a conspiracy charge.
“You sat right there next to me and you looked in the eyes of the jury and you tried to trick them, to fake them out. It was an insult to the [jurors] and to the system,” Lynch said. “Going to jail because you need to protect men with guns is not heroic. It’s stupid and wrong.”
A key factor that led the judge to cut Lil’ Kim’s sentence by a third was her decision to sing a new tune and admit her crime.
“I testified falsely during the grand jury and trial. At the time, I thought it was the right thing to do, but now I know it was wrong,” she told Lynch yesterday as her mother and supporters looked on.
“I put a burden on my friends and family. I put a burden on the court system,” said the rap star, who turned up at court in a blue suit.
Continuing in her emotional bid for leniency, Kim admitted she also pushed her pal and co-defendant Monique Dopwell to lie.
She then added, “I have worked hard my entire life for what I have. I have separated myself from those who pretended to be my family and have found peace with my mother and my music. I am a God-fearing, good person.”
Defense lawyer Paul Shechtman said his celebrity client was aware that her decision to admit her guilt means she will not be able to appeal her conviction or seek a new trial.
In addition to heading off to prison Sept. 19, the rapper is also in the process of repaying more than $850,000 in back taxes and must fork over $50,000 in fines.
