SAN DIEGO (CNS) — Rapper Boosie Badazz was sentenced Friday to credit for time served in the case stemming from his 2023 arrest in San Diego for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The 43-year-old, whose real name is Torence Ivy Hatch Jr., was arrested in the Chollas View neighborhood after police found two guns inside a vehicle in which he was riding.
Hatch was in San Diego at the time to shoot a music video and perform at a Gaslamp Quarter nightclub.
RELATED: Video captures Hatch with gun, shortly before arrest
In a social media video clip recorded during the music video shoot, Hatch was spotted with a gun in his waistband. Police then used a helicopter to track down his vehicle, after which officers conducted a traffic stop and discovered the firearms.
He pleaded guilty to a federal gun possession count last year. As part of his sentence, Hatch will also serve 300 hours of community service.
Defense attorney Meghan Blanco said in a statement released after Friday's hearing, "The resolution brings a sense of relief, allowing him to finally put this chapter behind him. He can now focus on continuing his music career, dedicating time to his family, and being a positive and inspiring presence for his children and the wider community."
Federal prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence, arguing in court papers that custody was warranted due to Hatch's "insistence on carrying a weapon despite his status as a convicted felon" and allegations that he threatened his security detail shortly after his arrest.
Blanco, in her sentencing memorandum, denied that any such threats occurred, noting that the alleged threats are not included in any police reports stemming from the arrest and that no recorded evidence of the threats exists.
The defense attorney wrote that the gun was never fired, brandished or used to threaten anyone. She also said there have been no allegations that the weapons were intended for any other offense and that Hatch's last criminal case occurred around 10 years before the San Diego incident.
"The case represents an isolated lapse in judgment, not a pattern of ongoing criminal conduct," Blanco wrote.
Hatch was initially charged by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. His defense attorneys have stated that Hatch intended to plead guilty at the time and was expected to be sentenced to probation, but the state's case was dismissed before that plea deal could be reached, and federal prosecutors took up the case.
U.S. District Judge Cathy Bencivengo -- who sentenced Hatch on Friday-- previously dismissed the case against him following a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said it was unconstitutional to prohibit convicted felons who served sentences for nonviolent drug offenses from possessing firearms.
But a larger panel of the 9th Circuit also overturned its earlier ruling, and San Diego federal prosecutors re-filed the charges against Hatch.
Hatch was previously convicted in Louisiana of marijuana possession. He was also indicted in an alleged murder-for-hire plot, but was acquitted by a Baton Rouge jury in 2012.
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