Rapper "Fat Joe" sentenced to four months in prison for tax evasion

(CBS/AP) NEWARK, N.J.-- The rapper "Fat Joe" was sentenced to four months in prison on Monday in New Jersey for failing to file federal income taxes.

The singer, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, pleaded guilty in December 2012 after he withheld taxes on over $1 million of income in 2007 and 2008.

On Monday, Cartagena apologized to his family and fans for his criminal behavior before he was sentenced in a federal court in Newark.

U.S. Magistrate Cathy Waldor said she sentenced the defendant based on claim's by the U.S. government that Cartagena evaded taxes on some $3 million of income between 2007 and 2010. His failure to pay income tax resulted in an estimated $718,038 lost in government tax income.

The artist lives in Miami Beach but he was prosecuted in New Jersey because some of the companies who paid his income were based in Somerville, N.J., which is located about 35 miles southwest of Newark.

The rapper was a platinum-selling artist who topped the Billboard charts with his single, "What's Luv."