When Beanie Sigel reports to the big house next month to serve one year for a gun charge, he’ll be wearing federal property — a twist of irony for the rapper whose clothing line is called State Property.
Last Thursday, Sigel, born Dwight Grant, was sentenced to one year in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Sigel had pleaded guilty to the charge April 8.
The gun, along with an assortment of drugs, was found on the suspect during a 2002 traffic stop in Point Breeze.
In addition to jail time, the 30-year-old must pay a $25,000 fine and serve two years’ probation.
Federal prosecutors had asked for six years — three years more than the maximum sentencing guidelines, said U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Rich Manieri. Not only did Sigel get a far lighter sentence, but he also will be credited for time spent on house arrest, meaning he could be a free man by mid-2005.
Prosecutors had asked for a harsher sentence due to Sigel’s lengthy rap sheet and the circumstances surrounding the traffic stop, added Manieri.
But citing the defendant’s "post-arrest rehabilitation" from years of drug abuse and his charitable work in the black community, U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick handed down a one-year sentence. The judge noted the mitigating circumstances despite that Sigel failed two drug tests while in court-ordered rehab earlier this year.
When 17th District officers pulled Sigel over for the 2002 traffic stop on the 1600 block of South 22nd Street, he led them on a high-speed chase through one-way streets before ditching his car and making a run for it, according to a sentencing memo submitted by U.S. Assistant District Attorney Curtis Douglas.
During the foot chase, the suspect tossed a loaded handgun near 20th and Moore streets, officials said.
Police nabbed Sigel on the 1800 block of South 20th Street and recovered a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol loaded with eight live rounds, as well as one in the chamber. From Sigel’s waistband, police retrieved a brown suede holster. The suspect also had two 16-ounce bottles of cough medicine, 22 Xanax pills, 21 Percocet pills, 10 unidentified white pills and a small bag of marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In January, the suspect will be retried for a shooting slast year in Southwest Philly. Sigel’s first trial ended with a hung jury in April.
