Kodak Black has pleaded guilty in connection to a criminal sexual conduct charge.
The rapper, born Bill Kapri, was sentenced to 18 months probation for first-degree assault and battery, a non-sex offense, during a hearing in Florence, South Carolina on Wednesday (April 28), according to The Post and Courier.
He was facing up to 30 years in state prison. As part of the conditions of his sentence, he must apologize to the victim, take full accountability for what happened, and enroll in counseling.
Kodak issued an apology to the victim in court. “I apologize this happened. I’m hopeful we can all move forward. I wish her the best in her life,” he said.
His legal team has also released a statement to Rap-Up. “Today Bill Kapri took a plea to the legal charge of assault, a non-sex offense, and received 18 months probation,” said his attorneys. “This was a change of charge from the original charge. Having consistently denied these 5-year-old allegations, he entered this plea in order to resolve the matter.”
Kodak was accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old girl at the Comfort Inn in Florence County in February 2016 while the rapper was in town to perform at a nightclub. He allegedly forced the victim against her will and bit her on the neck and breast. The teen reported the crime to her school nurse, who informed the police of the allegations.
Kodak was released from Florence County Detention Center in December 2016 on a $100,000 bond and was indicted five months later.
In January, he had a prior federal weapons conviction commuted by Donald Trump on his last day in office.
UPDATE: Kodak has returned to Twitter to address today’s court hearing.