According to court records, Smith has been sentenced to two days of anger-management counseling, and has been ordered to complete four days of community service. As soon as he satisfies the terms of the plea deal, his record will be wiped clean of the assault, which took place October 29, 2004.
The deal, which required Smith to admit his involvement in the attack, closes at least one of the chapters in the ongoing legal saga between R. Kelly and Jay-Z. The R&B crooner and Def Jam’s president have waged a drawn-out legal campaign against one another over the dissolution of the duo’s Best of Both Worlds trek. The most recent legal battle, a $91 million lawsuit Kelly’s lawyers filed last November, alleges that Jay-Z rewarded Smith with a cushy executive post at Def Jam for carrying out the attack.
A bench warrant had been issued for Smith, a childhood friend of Jay-Z’s and a member of his entourage, in November 2004. Smith was charged with assault in the third degree and faced a 12-month prison term if convicted. He was accused of pepper-spraying Kelly and several of the artist’s security guards during the MSG gig.
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