Despite being sentenced to serve three months in prison, Lauryn Hill is grateful. The Fugees co-founder was ordered to incarceration on Monday (May 6) for three years of federal tax evasion. Despite handing over a reported $900,000 before her sentencing, Hill—who was slated to face as many as three years behind bars—was still ordered to serve for her negligence.
On the New Jersey native’s Tumblr page, Ms. Hill thanked a list of supporters through her financial and personal challenges over recent months. Prior to her sentencing, the Sony/Columbia Records artist revealed that part of her negligence was due to personal threats on her and family. Hill was particularly thankful of those who penned letters to the judge.
In the letter, she specifically acknowledged support from musical peers Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys. Additionally, Hill thanked Chris Schwartz, co-founder and current CEO of Ruffhouse Records. While at Ruffhouse, Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras released two studio albums as The Fugees. 1996’s The Score sold over six million copies. Following the disbanding of the Fugees, Hill released her 1998 solo debut, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill at Ruffhouse/Sony, which sold over 19 million copies globally.
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Ms. Hill’s letter is published below:
“I want to extend a sincere thank you to the following people, who wrote letters to the judge on my behalf:
Linda Banks, Edison, NJ
Davonne Breedlove
Binna Choi, Beijing, China
Hafiz Farid, East Orange, NJ
Miriam Anne Banks Farrakhan, Union, NJ
Vincent Gardner, New York, NY
Michael Green, Fair Bluff, NC
Elitta Harden, Ft Worth, TX
Mrs. Valarie Hill, South Orange, NJ
Maureen Hogan, Jersey City, NJ
Walter Jones, New York, NY
Alicia Keys
Elena Lau, Toronto, Canada
Jerald Miller, New York, NY
Tracy Morris, Jacksonville Beach, FL
Elise Munoz, France
Bunmi Olukoya, Laurel, MD
Jimmie Pierre, Trenton, NJ
Cherisse Pittman
Gabrielle Fulton Ponder, Atlanta, GA
Dominique Reese, Oakland, CA
Chris Schwartz, Philadelphia, PA
Ashley Scott, Brooklyn, NY
Derek Singletary, Astoria, NY
Dr. Sara Tai, Manchester, UK
Suzette Williams, Teaneck, NJ
Lisa Willis, Philadelphia, PA
Stevie Wonder
Jonathan Wunderlich, Cabarete, DR
And thank you Jerald Miller, for taking the initiative to put this together.
I also want to thank all of my family, friends, business associates, and fans who have called, emailed, sent texts, and posted messages of concern, encouragement, and support. I appreciate the well wishes, and I thank you for your prayers.
Also, to anyone who may have written letters that we did not know about, thank you also, all of you.
I will have more to say soon, but did not want to further delay expressing my appreciation.
Thank you again,
MLH“
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