Nicki Minaj's Husband Could Face 10 Years In Prison For Sex Offender Registry Mishap

Nicki Minaj’s husband has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender in California. During a Zoom hearing with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Thursday, Kenneth “Zoo” Petty told the judge he entered into the plea agreement willingly.

According to court documents, Petty, who wore a black suit and sat next to his attorney during the virtual hearing, could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for the sex offender registry mishap. His charge stems from his failure to register as a sex offender when he moved to California in 2019, the same year he and Minaj tied the knot.

Petty is required to register as a sex offender in California as he was convicted for the first-degree attempted rape of a 16-year-old in 1995. He was sentenced to 18 to 54 months of imprisonment at that time. Before he moved to California, he was a level two registered offender in New York, which places him in a “moderate risk of repeat offense” status.

He was initially arrested in March 2020 for failure to register as a sex offender in California. At the time, however, he pleaded not guilty and posted $100,000 bail. His legal trouble started when the Beverly Hills Police Department pulled him over on Nov. 15, 2019, after the department determined he was a registered sex offender in New York but not in his current residence in California.

In August, one of his alleged rape victims, Jennifer Hough, pressed charges against him and Minaj when she accused the couple of attempting to intimidate her into recanting her rape accusation. The lawsuit also accused the pair of intentionally inflicting emotional distress on the victim by offering her up to $500,000 to recant her claims.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Hough said, “If I lie now and say that I lied then, you know what that does? Do you know what that’s going to say to my two little girls, or even my sons?”

Petty’s sentencing hearing for the registration failure is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2022. He could face a maximum 10-year sentence in federal prison, a lifetime supervised release, and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross loss resulting from the offense.