Nicki Minaj’s Husband Pleads Guilty to Sex Offender Charge

Nicki Minaj‘s husband, Kenneth Petty, has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender in California.

According to court documents obtained by XXL on Friday (Sept. 10), Petty entered his guilty plea on Thursday (Sept. 9) in the United States District Court Central District of California via a video hearing. The Queens, N.Y. rapper’s spouse faces up to 10 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount gained or loss from the incident—whichever amount is higher—and a mandatory special assessment of $100, if convicted.

Kenneth Petty’s sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 24, 2022.

Last month, Petty struck a deal with the United States Attorney’s Officer for the Central District of California where he would plead guilty to one count of failing to register as a sex offender in his case. In exchange, the USAO agreed to give Petty a lower sentence, which will be based on the United States Sentencing Commissions guidelines.

Petty’s case stems from his February of 2020 indictment, which was a result of his move to California with Nicki in 2019, but failing to register as a sex offender. He turned himself in days later on March 4, 2020. Petty was arrested in November of 2019 after a traffic stop, which is when police realized he was registered in his home state of New York, but not in California. He was later released on $20,000 bail and went on to register in the West Coast state.

Back in 1995, Kenneth Petty was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl one year prior. Petty was 16 years old himself at the time. Nonetheless, he served nearly four years in prison on the rape charge, resulting in his order to register as a sex offender in the states he resides in. On Dec. 11, 1997, the New York State Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders designated Petty as a Level 2 offender based on his 1995 conviction.

The news of Petty’s guilty plea comes nearly one month after himself and Nicki were sued by Petty’s rape victim and accused of harassing and intimidating the woman.

Kenneth Petty and Nicki Minaj wed in October of 2019 and welcomed a son together last year.