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Eminem gets 2 years' probation on gun charge

Eminem, in a Michigan court Tuesday, pleaded guilty in February to carrying a concealed weapon.

MOUNT CLEMENTS, Michigan (CNN) -- Grammy-winning rapper Eminem gets two years' probation in a plea bargain for carrying a concealed weapon, but he faces trial in less than two weeks for another incident allegedly involving a gun.

Dressed in a dark blue suit and wearing a tie, Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, had no comment in court Tuesday other than to say he was waiving his right to make a statement.

Mathers, 27, had pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon in February before Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Antonio Viviano. In exchange, Macomb County, Michigan, prosecutors dropped a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, which could have resulted in a four-year sentence.

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As part of the probation, the judge ordered Mathers to avoid using alcohol, to submit to periodic drug and alcohol testing, to own no "firearms or other weapons," and to take part in counseling. He also was ordered to pay a fine of $2,500 and $5,000 in court costs, plus some other costs.

Mathers will be allowed to travel within the continental United States after submitting an itinerary, the judge said. Any travel outside the United States would have to be approved by the court.

If the rap singer from Clinton Township, Michigan, violates the terms he could be sentenced to five years in jail, the judge said.

The charges stemmed from an incident last summer outside the Hot Rocks Cafe in Warren, Michigan. Mathers was accused of clubbing another man with a handgun.

Warren police say Mathers attacked the man after seeing him kiss the rapper's now-estranged wife, Kimberly Mathers, outside the bar.

A presentencing report recommended probation. Prosecutors had recommended four to six months in jail.

Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Dave Portuesi said he had sought jail time in part because he thought the publicity of Eminem going to jail would have had a deterrent effect on others.

"In part you try to treat him like anyone else, but he's not like anyone else," Portuesi said.

Before the sentence was pronounced, Mathers' attorney noted to the judge that Mathers had cooperated fully with police and had been in no trouble with the law since last summer.

Mathers has no previous criminal record except for a 1994 domestic assault case that Viviano ruled should have been removed from his record.

But Mathers also faces criminal charges in Oakland County. Prosecutors say Mathers pointed a gun at a member of a rival Detroit-based rap group, Insane Clown Posse, in Royal Oak on June 3.

He faces a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon and brandishing a firearm in the incident. A trial date in Oakland County Circuit Court is set for April 23.

Eminem's controversial music, which is laced with obscenities and bashes homosexuals, has angered gay and lesbian activists who say his music promotes discrimination.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Organization for Women held protests outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles before the rapper's duet with Elton John at the Grammy Awards in February.

Eminem walked away with three awards that night, including best rap album for "The Marshal Mathers LP."

Kimberly Mathers filed for divorce from her husband last August but reconciled a few months later. Then in March, she filed for divorce again. The couple have a 5-year-old daughter named Hailie Jade.

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Eminem
Macomb County Circuit Court
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
National Organization for Women

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