Tue Mar 22, 7:23 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rapper Ja Rule pleaded guilty on Tuesday to failing to file tax returns and promised to pay more than $1 million in back taxes and penalties, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey said.

Ja Rule, whose original name is Jeffrey Atkins, 35, pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to three counts of failing to file a tax return, from 2004 through 2008, even though he was making money from royalties and live tours.

The Grammy-nominated rapper and New Jersey resident agreed to pay the government more than $1.1 million in tax debts, plus penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, according to federal prosecutors.

"Each of us must pay our fair share to keep this country going," U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.

U.S. federal judge Patty Shwartz set bail at $500,000 and permitted Atkins' release pending sentencing scheduled for June 13. He faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison on each count.

In December, Atkins was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to a weapons possession charge stemming from a 2007 incident in which he was pulled over by police who discovered a semi-automatic handgun hidden in his luxury car.

He has appeared in several films, most notably "The Fast and the Furious" and "Scary Movie 3".

(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr., editing by Christine Kearney)

Singer may have his appearance on 'Dancing With the Stars' canceled

Britney Spears has to be the only person on the planet who test drives a Maserati by sitting in the passenger seat while someone else gets to have all the fun.


Britney and her bodyguard visited the Maserati dealership earlier today in Calabasas, CA -- where she was spotted riding shotgun in the car, which is worth well over $100,000.

Britney is such a driven person.

BTW: Britney is on a $500 a week allowance and can't buy the car without a judge's approval ... and we're pretty sure that's not how the judge rolls.

Britney Spears has called off her romance with her longtime agent Jason Trawick, according to a new report.

The singer is said to have asked Trawick for some time for herself after the couple's relationship began to turn serious as he accompanied the pop star on her Circus world tour.

Spears was even rumored to have been engaged to Trawick earlier this month after she was photographed with a sparkling ring on her wedding finger - but the 27 year old has now taken a break from their love affair, reports OKmagazine.com.

After spending a few days shooting an episode of Supernatural in Vancouver, Paris Hilton landed at LAX this afternoon, and we're 99% sure that she was on the phone with Doug when we snapped her breezing through the airport!

And it looks like Doug wasn't the only one she missed! Immediately after her arrival, the heiress tweeted, "Back in LA, going home to see my puppies and kitten...I travel way too much, it's so nice to be home once in a while." Aww, welcome back P!

P.S. Is she wearing Lindsay's Mr. President leggings?!