Lil Wayne.Photo: Thaddaeus McAdams/Getty
The 38-year-old rapper pled guilty to illegally possessing a gold-plated .45-caliber handgun with six rounds of ammunition while traveling to Florida on a private plane in December 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced on Friday.
If convicted as charged, Lil Wayne — born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. — could face a maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment.
A representative for Lil Wayne did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Wayne was found in possession of a loaded Remington 1911 on Dec. 23, 2019 at the Opa-Locka Executive Airport after authorities received an anonymous tip and approached him following his flight from California, according to court documents.
Officials said Wayne told officers that he had a gun in his bag.
Upon searching the bag, officers also found personal use amounts of cocaine, ecstasy and oxycodone, according to authorities.
Wayne was convicted with criminal possession of a weapon back in March 2010 and served a sentence of eight months in New York.
His prior conviction made his possession of the gun and ammunition on Dec. 23, 2019 illegal, officials said.
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Wayne was charged in November.
“Carter is charged with possessing a gold-plated handgun in his luggage on a private plane,” his attorney Howard Srebnick said in a statement to PEOPLE last month. “There is no allegation that he ever fired it, brandished it, used it or threatened to use it. There is no allegation that he is a dangerous person. The charge is that because he was convicted of a felony in the past, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm.”
Srebnick also pointed to JusticeAmy Coney Barrett’s appellate dissenting opinion in a similar matter, where she stated that it would violate the second amendment for convicted felons to be “permanently disqualified” from possessing a gun, as long as they don’t belong “to a dangerous category” or bear “markers of risk.”
“Although I have twice argued in the Supreme Court of the United States, I cannot predict how the Justices would rule on this constitutional law question,” Srebnick said.
Wayne’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2021.
source: people.com
