Kevin Gates Sentenced to Jail for Attacking a Fan
Looks like Kevin Gates will be spending the holidays in jail.
The rapper has been sentenced to 180 days in jail after a jury found him guilty of misdemeanor battery on Wednesday. The charges came from an August 2015 incident in which the 30-year-old rapper was filmed kicking a woman in the chest during his concert in Lakeland, Florida.Â
During his trial, Gates plead not guilty and insisted he was simply defending himself against an aggressive fan under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, claiming the victim, Miranda Dixon, was trying to pull him off stage. When his attempts to get her to stop failed, he used ânecessary forceâ to protect himself. His attorney Jose Baez even went as far as to claim Gates' foot didnât actually touch Dixon, and that she was simply attempting to gain damages in an upcoming civil trial.
The jury, made up of six white women, didn't buy it and found Gates guilty. The judge wasn't on Gates' side, either, and rejected the state's request for 60 days in jail, with one year of probation and mandatory anger management classes, opting instead to triple the sentence.