Rapper Coolio spared jail in guilty plea to Los Angeles gun charge

. Grammy-winning rapper
Coolio pleaded guilty on Wednesday to unlawful
firearm possession for carrying a loaded pistol in a
backpack into Los Angeles International Airport
last month and was sentenced to three years of
probation, prosecutors said.
The 53-year-old recording star, whose legal name
is Artis Leon Ivey, was also ordered to perform 45
days of community service under a negotiated plea
deal sparing him from prison, according to a
spokesman for the Los Angeles County District
Attorney’s Office.
The rap artist was charged earlier this month with
illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted
felon, an offense that carries a penalty of up to
three years in prison.
At his hearing in Los Angeles County Superior
Court on Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to the
lesser offense of carrying a concealed weapon.
Singer Coolio performs before a panel discussion
on his new Oxygen Network reality series
”Coolio’s Rules” at the NBC Universal summer
2008 press tour in Beverly Hills, California July 20,
2008. REUTERS/Fred Prouser/File Photo
Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for prosecutors,
said the rapper could return to court in a year to
have his latest felony conviction reduced to a
misdemeanor, provided he fulfills his community
service obligation by then and stays out of trouble
with the law.
He already had two prior felony convictions on his
record, from 2001 for carrying a concealed weapon
in a vehicle and in 2009 for possession of cocaine.
The judge told Coolio on Wednesday that if he
were found to be in possession of even a single
bullet during the next three years, he would end
up back in court facing jail time for violating his
probation.
The rap star sounded a note of contrition in
remarks to reporters after the hearing, but said his
latest brush with the law resulted from a
“mistake.”
“It was a misunderstanding,” he said. “I do not
condone the use of firearms, legal or illegal.
Thanks to the court and the attorneys handing
this for me so I can still do the work that I do.”
According to police who arrested Coolio at the
airport on Sept. 17, a stolen, loaded handgun was
discovered in his backpack on the X-ray
screening belt as his entourage was going through
security to board a flight en route to a concert.
Coolio, a Los Angeles-area native, is perhaps best
known for this 1995 Grammy Award-winning hit
“Gangsta’s Paradise,” the No. 1 U.S. chart-topper
that year and one of the best-selling singles of all
time.