Lauryn Hill Prison Sentence Reduced To Almost Nothing

Lauryn Hill’s prison sentence was handed down this week, and the grammy winning singer was given a three month deal.

While Hill was up for 24 to 36 months in prison, she was instead handed just three months of incarceration. Hill may not even see that time behind bars as no facility was specified during sentencing. Hill, if sent to prison, will likely be placed in a reduced security facility for white collar crimes.

Lauryn Hill had petitioned the court for probation after she was found guilty of failing to pay more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007.

Hill’s attorney Nathan Hochman was able to drastically reduce Hill’s sentence by proving that she paid in full her missed taxes and that she had not intentionally filed false returns. You may recall that Wesley Snipes was handed a far longer prison sentence after he attempted to lie to the IRS about his income.

Hill appeared in front of US Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo. The judge has given Hill’s people until July 8 to appeal the decision or appear for sentencing.

According to Hochman:

“Ms. Hill has not only now fully paid prior to sentencing her taxes which are part of her criminal restitution, but she has additionally fully paid her federal and state personal taxes for the entire period under examination through 2009.”

Hochman has become somewhat of a wunderkind with large IRS penalty settlements. Hochman received a favorable sentence for a Florida Widow last week after she was found guilty with a $21 million penalty involving inherited Swiss and Liechtenstein account. US District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp gave Ms. Curran one year probation in a case that could have delivered a six year prison term. Ms. Curran could received a presidential pardon as she actually tried to approach the IRS but was instead rebuffed.

Do you think the Lauryn Hill prison sentence is fair?

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