Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty may serve time in prison for failing to register as a sex offender.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, the government recommended a 15-month prison sentence for Kenneth Petty. Nicki Minaj’s husband pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender in 2021.
“The government respectfully requests that the Court sentence defendant to a low-end Guidelines sentence of 15 months imprisonment, five years supervised release, a mandatory $100 special assessment and a $55,000 fine,” United States Attorneys urged.
Kenneth Petty was convicted of attempted rape in 1995. He registered as a sex offender for years before failing to do so when he moved to California in 2019.
“Defendant has been completing sex offender registration documents for nearly 20 years,” the government noted. “Over the course of two decades, he was repeatedly warned that if he moved to another state, it was his responsibility to follow any local, city, state, federal, or international laws regarding registration.”
It continued, “In 2019, defendant began a relationship with a celebrity and moved to California. Only then did defendant decide to shirk his registration requirements, despite having had the benefit of 20 years’ worth of warnings.”
United States Attorneys suggested Kenneth Petty’s relationship with Nicki Minaj played a role in his failure to register. His lifestyle raised concerns for the government, which requested prison time to emphasize the gravity of his sex offender status.
“The timing of defendant’s lapse in registration is concerning, given that it occurred when defendant began dating his wife, quit his job, moved to Los Angeles, and adopted an affluent lifestyle,” the government argued. “The Court should impose a within-Guidelines sentence to impose on defendant the importance of his registration requirements and the need to follow the law, regardless of his changed socioeconomic status.”
U.S. Attorneys called for Kenneth Petty to not receive “preferential treatment.” They advised against home confinement for imprisonment.
