Kenneth Petty Sentenced to Probation and In-Home Detention After Failure to Register as Sex Offender
Gotham/GC Images Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty
Nicki Minaj's husband Kenneth Petty has been sentenced after pleading guilty to failing to register as a sex offender in the state of California in 2020.
During a hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Petty was sentenced to three years probation and a year of in-home detention, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was also ordered to pay a $55,000 fine, CBS Los Angeles and MyNewsLA.com report.
Petty, 44, pleaded guilty in a September hearing and at the time, faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release. His sentencing was postponed multiple times ahead of Wednesday's court date.
Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty
Petty was arrested in March 2020 after being indicted for failure to register as a sex offender. At the time, Petty pleaded not guilty and posted $100,000 bail, according to records accessed by PEOPLE.
He initially faced legal trouble after being pulled over by the Beverly Hills Police Department on Nov. 15, 2019, when the department determined he was registered as a sex offender in New York — but not in California, where he now resides, TMZ previously reported.
Petty is required to register as a sex offender, as he was convicted for the first-degree attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl in 1995. He was sentenced to 18 to 54 months, but spent four years in prison. Petty is a level two registered offender in New York, which means he's considered a "moderate risk of repeat offense."
In August, Petty's alleged rape victim, Jennifer Hough, filed a lawsuit against him and Minaj, 39, in which she accused the pair of attempting to intimidate her into recanting her rape accusation.
The lawsuit also accused Petty and Minaj, who married in October 2019, of intentional infliction of emotional distress and alleged that the couple had offered Hough up to $500,000 to recant her claims.
The suit was then dropped by Hough in January, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.
"The case against Nicki was voluntarily dismissed. The case against Kenneth Petty is still ongoing. Stay tuned!" Hough's lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, told PEOPLE at the time.
James Devaney/GC Images Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty
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Minaj's lawyer, Judd Bernstein, told Hough's lawyer he was pleased that Hough and Blackburn "came to their senses," according to an email obtained by PEOPLE.
"Your conduct in pursuing this case against Nicki represents the worst of our legal system: bottom-feeding lawyers who pursue frivolous actions against a celebrity assuming that they will be paid off if they throw up enough dirt," he wrote.
Bernstein added, "It is just the beginning of Nicki's and my efforts to make you pay for your disgraceful conduct with both money and, if the Court recommends it, disciplinary sanctions."
