Aspire Music Exec Derrick Lawrence Sentenced To 8 Months In Prison Over Taxes

NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — A music executive whose record label formerly served as a home to top-tier artists such as Drake and Lil Wayne, has been sentenced to eight months in prison for failing to pay federal income taxes for three years.

According to DNA Info, Derrick Lawrence pleaded guilty in Federal Court in New York’s Eastern District for failing to pay more than $2 million of personal income tax from 2009 to 2011.

Lawrence pleaded guilty to the charges last year, telling the court at the time that he gave his tax information to his accountant, but ultimately accepted responsibility for failing to file it, DNA Info reported.

“I hired an accountant to do it, and I didn’t follow up, and it was my responsibility, but I was traveling,” Lawrence told the court. “I failed to pay my taxes, which I left in other people’s hands, which I realize was my responsibility.”

According to prosecutors, Lawrence earned $591,612 in 2009, $652,174 in 2010 and $1,032,423 in 2011.

“It was never a disrespect to the government. It was a lack of knowledge,” Lawrence, 48, told Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo during his sentencing hearing.

Lawrence said the returns have now been filed and noted that “it’s my fault for not following up with my accountants who I hired.”

Lawrence is facing an 8-month stint in Federal prison and must pay the IRS some of the $600,000 he still owes, the New York Daily News reported.

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