Rappers who faced criminal charges

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Rappers who faced criminal charges

Photos of rappers who faced criminal charges or spent time in prison.

Rapper Waka Flocka Flame did his best Willow Smith impression.

Gucci Mane has served time for a multitude of crimes. He was arrested most recently on Jan. 3, 2010 in Fulton County for violating terms of his probation, which he also served six months for in May 2010. In November 2010, he was arrested on multiple traffic charges. Those charges were soon dropped. He was arrested for hitting a promoter's head with a pool cue in 2005. Also in 2005, murder charges against the rapper were dropped due to what the DAs called insufficient evidence.

Lil Wayne served 8 months of a yearlong jail sentence in New York for having a loaded gun on his tour bus in a 2007 incident. He also faces drug and weapons charges charges in Arizona relating to a 2008 arrest at a border checkpoint, where police claim they found cocaine, Ecstasy and a handgun.

Chester "Lyfe" Jennings was sentenced to 3 years in prison on Sept. 23, 2010 after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a high-speed police chase in Smyrna on Oct. 19, 2008 that ended in a crash. Police say that Jennings fired shots into the house where he thought the mother of his child was staying.

T.I. served a one-year prison sentence and is currently serving three years of probation for his conviction of federal weapons charges in 2008. His September 2010 arrest in Los Angeles on drug charges, a violation of his probation, may send him back to prison.

DMX began a 90-day prison sentence in L.A. in July, 2010 for a reckless driving conviction in 2002. He has been repeatedly arrested and jailed in the past decade, recently serving a sentence in an Arizona jail for violating probation by failing a drug test.

Foxy Brown's long rap sheet includes serving a year in jail (2007-08) for violating probation in connection with assault charges from a 2004 altercation with two manicurists. She was arrested in 2010 for violating an order of protection.

Tupac Shakur pleaded guilty in 1994 to a misdemeanor assault charge for trying to hit another rapper with a baseball bat at a concert. He had been charged with felonious assault but the charge was reduced. Also in 1994, Shakur was convicted of sexual abuse and sentenced to one and a half years in a correctional facility.

Lil' Kim was given a one year, one day sentence and a $50,000 fine for lying to the grand jury in connection with a shootout outside a Manhattan radio station in 2001.

C-Murder received life in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder for the December 2002 killing of 16-year-old fan Steve Thomas at a nightclub in Harvey, La., a New Orleans suburb.

In 1996, Snoop Dogg was acquitted of murder in the killing of a rival gang member. Snoop and his bodyguard, who had been charged as the actual shooter, were acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.

Slick Rick was convicted for the attempted murder of two men in 1991. The rapper served more than five years in prison after shooting his cousin and another man. Both survived. Slick Rick faced deportation in 2008 before New York Gov. David Paterson granted him a full and unconditional pardon.

Ja Rule faces a gun possession charge from 2007.

Sean "Diddy" Combs was acquitted on bribery and weapons charges in 2001 stemming from a club shooting, from which he and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were caught fleeing the scene.

In 2000, Shyne was arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license while he was on trial with Diddy for allegedly shooting three people in a Times Square nightclub in 1999. He was convicted of the latter charge, was sentenced to 10 years and was deported after his release from prison. Shyne still disputes Diddy's version of events from that night.

Mystikal served six years in prison on a sexual battery and extortion charge.

Just months after leaving federal prison, Beanie Sigel (right) was back in court in 2005 defending himself on charges he shot and nearly killed a man on a crowded city street in July 2003. He has since been back to prison for violating supervised release.

Producer Shawty Redd was charged with murder early this year after a man was killed in his home.

Jay-Z was sentenced to three years probation in 1999 for stabbing a record producer at a Manhattan nightclub.

Soulja Boy received a year of probation on an obstruction of justice charge, stemming from a 2009 incident where he ran from police during a video shoot in Henry County.

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Rapper Waka Flocka Flame did his best Willow Smith impression.

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