The judge reminded her
that citizens don't get to choose when to pay the government just before
ordering her to spend three months in a federal prison.
The Grammy-winning singer
must report to prison on July 8 to begin serving the sentence for
failure to pay federal income taxes for three years, followed by three
months of home confinement and a year of supervised probation, the judge
said. Hill must also pay penalties and taxes still owed and a $60,000
fine.
Hill pleaded guilty last year to three counts of failing to file tax returns on more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007.
The artist appeared
Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in federal court
in Newark, New Jersey, for sentencing.
Hill told the judge she
lives "very modestly" considering how much money her music -- she has
sold 16 million records -- earned for other people.
"Someone did the math,
and it came to around $600 million," she said. "And I sit here before
you trying to figure out how to pay a tax debt? If that's not like
enough to slavery, I don't know."
"This wasn't a life of
jet-setting glamour," she said. "This was a life of sacrifice with very
little time for myself and my children."
The income in question
was mostly from music and film royalties paid to companies she owned
between 2005 and 2008, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
"Although Hill pleaded
guilty to charges specifically related to those tax years, her sentence
also takes into account additional income and tax losses for 2008 and
2009 -- when she also failed to file federal returns -- along with her
outstanding tax liability to the state of New Jersey, for a total income
of approximately $2.3 million and total tax loss of approximately
$1,006,517," the prosecutor said.
Hill's lawyer, Nathan Hochman, told CNN that Hill has fully paid her taxes.
"I think the judge gave a fair and reasonable sentence," Hochman said.
Her lack of a prior criminal record and the fact that she has six minor children helped, he said.
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