Lauryn Hill pleads guilty in US to tax charges

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) — Eight-time Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of failing to file tax returns and faces a maximum one-year sentence for each one.

Hill was charged over failing to file federal tax returns on more than $1.5 million earned from 2005 to 2007.

Hill declined to comment after the hearing in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. During the hearing, attorney Nathan Hochman indicated that Hill planned to pay back the taxes she owes.

The U.S. magistrate initially scheduled sentencing for early October but agreed to delay it until late November to give Hill time to make repayment.

Hill admitted she didn’t pay taxes on about $818,000 earned in 2005, $222,000 in 2006 and $761,000 in 2007. The money was earned by four corporations she owned.

After the charges were brought, Hill posted a long statement on her Tumblr page that decried pop culture’s “climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism.” She explained that she hasn’t paid taxes since she withdrew from society to guarantee the safety and well-being of herself and her family.

Hill hinted Friday that she might expand on those comments at her sentencing.

The 37-year-old got her musical start with The Fugees and began her solo career in 1998 with the critically acclaimed album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”

She then largely disappeared from public view to raise her six children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley, the son of reggae singer Bob Marley.