Following a plea deal in 2021, Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenny Petty, faces additional charges after he failed to register as a sex offender.
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Petty admitted that he failed to register himself after he moved to California with Minaj following their 2019 marriage. Petty was convicted of rape in New York in the early ’90s, serving four years in prison. Because of that conviction, Petty is required to register as a sex offender wherever he moves.
During his sentencing on Wednesday (June 6), a judge determined Petty must serve a year under home confinement, along with three years probation and a $55,000 fine, according to People.
The year confined at home is less severe than the federal prosecutors’ call for Petty to spend 15 months in prison—especially given that Petty lives with Minaj in a lavish home in Calabasas.
The judge, Michael Fitzgerald, said the less severe sentencing was informed by the strain of having another prisoner in an already overcrowded prison system that is causing a surge of COVID-19 cases.
Petty’s defense attorney said that Minaj’s absence from the sentencing hearing was to avoid causing a spectacle for the event. Instead, she gave the court a lengthy letter in Petty’s defense, explaining that his imprisonment would severely impact their 2-year-old son.
“I have no doubt my son would be traumatized if his father would be taken out of his life,” she wrote. “I’ve known Kenneth Petty for over 20 years, when I first met him I knew he needed guidance… I’ve seen his genuine evolution first hand.”
Prior to his sentencing, Petty expressed remorse for failing to register in California saying, “I take full responsibility for whatever happens today. I’m ashamed, embarrassed, and disrespected my wife’s brand. There are no excuses, I broke the law. I thank you for giving me the chance to speak, to apologize.”
Petty also faces a lawsuit from Jennifer Hough who accused him of attempted rape in 1994. Hough sued both Petty and Minaj last year, saying they both “directly and indirectly intimidated, harassed and threatened [Hough] to recant her legitimate claim that Defendant Petty raped her.”
Though Minaj was dismissed from the suit earlier this year, the suit is still ongoing.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
