On Wednesday (May 26), 28-year-old rapper 42 Dugg, whose legal name is Dion Marquise Hayes, was sentenced to one year in prison in connection to a federal gun charge from 2020.
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Hayes will not only need to serve a year behind bars, but will face three years of supervised release after he gets out, and is required to pay a $20,000 fine, according to XXL. Hayes’ sentence originates from a federal gun probe he was subject to in November 2020, where he was charged with felony possession of a firearm.
At first, he was sentenced to serve six months in a West Virginia prison camp, which was scheduled to begin on April 12, 2022. However, he failed to show up for his sentence, which tacked on another charge of failure to surrender.
A month later in May 2022, federal agents tracked down his private plane in Detroit, where he was finally detained. Before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand decided to place him in jail before new sentencing, Hayes claimed he was a sovereign citizen who was exempt from federal laws. But, Grand did not agree.
With his one-year sentence handed down Wednesday, Hayes’ career as 42 Dugg will likely be slightly derailed. Throughout his career, Dugg has been most known for songs like “We Paid” and “Grace” with Lil Baby in 2020, as well as “4 Da Gang” with Roddy Ricch in 2021.
Dugg’s most recent full-length effort came in the form of joint album Last Ones Left (2022) with Kentucky rapper EST Gee, as the project’s most popular song “Thump Shit” peaked at No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A few months ago, Dugg connected with fellow Detroit rapper Babyface Ray for the song “Ron Artest,” released on Feb. 8. In the midst of a steadily successful mainstream career, Dugg’s missteps legally will certainly require him to regain a bit of momentum once he returns from prison.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation
