Lauryn Hill’s Message From Jail: ‘It Has Taken Some Adjustment’
Lauryn Hill has sent a message from the jail she has lived in for exactly 13 days over tax evasion, which she pleaded guilty to.
Sentenced to a three month jail term back in May for her failure to file tax returns on around $1.8 million, the singer reported to the low security female facility in Danbury, Connecticut on July 8.
Evidently keen to reassure her friends and fans that she is fine, Hill’s message seemed to express her acceptance of her circumstance.
The 38-year-old wrote:
“I have known since very young to look for the purpose and lesson in everything, including the trials. Although it has taken some adjustment, I cannot deny the favor I have encountered while in here, and general warm reception from a community of people who despite their circumstances, have found unique ways to make the best of them. Thank you for the letters of concern and well wishes that I receive in the mail every day. Although I may not be able to write everyone back, please know that they have been received, read, acknowledged, and appreciated. With Love back, MLH”
Despite paying $970,000 to the IRS before her final hearing, the mother-of-six was sentenced to a three month prison sentence by the judge.
In addition, when she is released in October Hill will also serve three months of home confinement, a year of supervised probation, and will also have to pay penalties, the taxes she still owes and a $60,000 fine.
During her trial, the US attorney’s office said the income Hill was liable for — given that the singer has sold over 16 million albums — was mainly earned from a combination of music and film royalties paid to companies she owned from 2005 to 2008.
The prosecutor said the sentence took account of “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 N.J. for a total income of [approx] $2.3 million and total tax loss of [approx] $1,006,517.”
It’s likely Hill’s friends, including singers Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder who wrote to the presiding judge pre-sentencing to lobby for the former Fugees star, will be relieved to hear she is staying positive while in prison.
