Manager At Label That Signed Drake Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion

A hip-hop manager linked to names like Drake and Lil' Wayne admitted Tuesday he didn’t file tax returns over three years.

Aspire Music Group co-founder Derrick Lawrence hauled in more than $2.2 million between 2009 and 2011. He’d been riding high after Aspire signed then-budding Canadian hitmaker Drake to an exclusive management deal in 2008.

But Lawrence, 47, didn't file his personal taxes returns with the feds from 2009 to 2011.

On Tuesday — a week ahead of the national tax deadline — Lawrence pleaded guilty to three counts of tax evasion.

Lawrence is on the hook to pay back approximately $750,000.

While fessing up to the offenses, Lawrence, 47, made it sound like a management blunder.

"I hired an accountant but didn't follow up," Lawrence told Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo. "It was my responsibility, but I was traveling." He said he took "full responsibility for my actions" and was working to make good with Uncle Sam.

Lawrence is on the hook to pay back approximately $750,000.

While fessing up to the offenses, Lawrence, 47, made it sound like a management blunder.

"I hired an accountant but didn't follow up," Lawrence told Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo. "It was my responsibility, but I was traveling." He said he took "full responsibility for my actions" and was working to make good with Uncle Sam.

The prosecution and Lawrence's lawyer, Stacey Richman, said Lawrence has begun paying back what he owes. Neither said exactly how much he's paid.

Lawrence is up for sentencing July 11 and could get a maximum three-year penalty if he's made to serve out the one-year maximums on each count back to back.

The bigshot manager is out on $150,000 bail and the biggest back-and-forth had to do with rules on his jet-setting ways. Lawrence has to let the feds know when he's staying at his Brooklyn pad and when he's at his place in Florida. He gets to keep his passport, but needs government approval to travel overseas.

Lawrence and Aspire Music have been dealing with their own legal headaches for years over who's entitled to cuts of the profit from Drake's stardom.

Lawrence didn't talk to reporters outside the courtroom. Richman also declined to discuss the case.

But she noted Lawrence "manages a lot of people. He's very responsible."

SOURCE