Fugees member Lauryn Hill returned to our headlines yesterday with the release of a brand new, albeit rushed track. Today she returns to our front page, but sadly the news is not as good for Ms. Hill.
Hill appeared in court yesterday to face charges stemming from a $900,000 tax debt she owed to the US Government. As a result of her offenses, Hill was sentenced to serve three months prison time starting in July.
Hill plead guilty to the charges last year, but had taken care of the outstanding debt prior to appearing in court. Nathan Hochman, Hill’s attorney, told Reuters that his client actually paid off her debt through a loan leveraged against two pieces of real estate. He said, “Ms Hill has not only now fully paid prior to sentencing her taxes, which are part of her criminal restitution, but she has additionally fully paid her federal and state personal taxes for the entire period under examination through 2009.”
Hochman asked for mercy because of Hill’s charity work and 6 kids, but the judge said no.
Hill was present during the hearing, and delivered a statement to the judge in which she compared her situation to slavery, stating “I was put into a system I didn’t know the nature of. … I’m a child of former slaves. I got into an economic paradigm and had that imposed on me.”
