Three 6 Mafia rapper Project Pat faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine following his conviction on weapons charges last week in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tennessee.

The federal jury found the thirty-year-old rapper -- whose real name is Patrick Houston -- guilty on March 13th of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges stem from a January 2001 incident when police in Memphis stopped Houston for speeding and found two revolvers in his vehicle; he was on parole for aggravated robbery at the time.

Houston will face sentencing in Memphis June 6th. In January, a jury there failed to reach a decision on the case, and the second trial was moved to Jackson as a result.

Project Pat's fourth solo album, Layin' the Smack Down, the follow up his Top Five 2001 effort Mista Don't Play: Everythang's Workin, is scheduled for an April 23rd release.

AUGUSTIN K. SEDGEWICK
(March 18, 2002)