Juelz Santana’s Gun Possession Trial Postponed While He Negotiates Plea Deal

Juelz Santana's federal trial for firearm possession has been postponed while the rapper and his defense attempt to negotiate a plea deal, Billboard reports today (Aug. 13).

The Dipset member was arrested in March and charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of carrying a firearm on an airplane for a March incident at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Juelz reportedly fled the airport on March 9 after Transportation Security Administration agents discovered a gun and oxycodone pills in his luggage. He turned himself in to authorities three days later and currently faces up to 20 years in prison.

Billboard reports a trial was scheduled for September, but an order filed this month postponed the start date until at least Sept. 30 in order “to permit defense counsel the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation in this matter and to allow the parties to enter into plea negotiation."

The "There It Go" rapper was assigned house arrest but allowed to participate in this summer's Dipset Forever Tour under the conditions that he wear an ankle monitor and travel to gigs via automobile with his mother. A judge also granted him permission to leave his house to celebrate his daughter's birthday last month.

The Diplomats' reunion tour is scheduled to conclude with a show at the Ford Amphitheater in Brooklyn on Aug. 18. The Harlem collective is also working on a new album and documentary, according to a November interview with Santana, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey.

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