Why Was Kenneth Petty On Probation In The First Place?
The root of Kenneth Petty's legal woes originates way back in the mid-90s, when he was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in New York in 1995. Petty, 16 at the time, served nearly 4 years in a state penitentiary and was thereafter required by law to register as a sex offender. This requirement has followed him to this day, and in September of 2021, Nicki's onetime high school sweetheart pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender after moving from New York to California.
Prior to the plea agreement, a lawyer for Jennifer Hough, the woman Petty was convicted of assaulting, submitted a letter to the case's judge requesting that the deal be rejected. "Kenneth Petty has no rehabilitative characteristics," the letter stated. "He is a criminal whose only solution to life’s challenges is to stoop to unconscionable depths to secure his depraved desires. Kenneth Petty belongs in prison." Despite this, Petty managed to avoid jail, agreeing to a year under home confinement at his and Minaj's lavish gated home, along with 3 years' probation and a $55,000 fine.
These weren't the only skeletons Petty had in his closet: he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree for the shooting death of a man named Lamont Robinson in 2002, after originally being charged with second-degree murder before striking a plea deal. Kenneth was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death, but was released after serving 7 in 2013.
Nicki Minaj's Husband Now Sentenced To Another Year Under House Arrest
Seemingly just after finishing his original year's sentence to home confinement, Kenneth Petty will once again be getting intimately acquainted with the interior walls of the Minaj-Petty estate. A federal judge in Los Angeles sentenced Kenneth to 120 days house arrest last week for violating his initial 3-year probation for "making threatening remarks" to, it seems, Cardi B's husband Offset. Though Offset wasn't officially named by court documents, legal affairs journalist Meghann Cuniff reported on Twitter/X that the "specific individual" that had been threatened "is Offset, Cardi B's husband."
Apparently, Petty was recorded on video making the threatening remarks toward the Migos rapper, and this conduct "[raised] concerns" over Petty's "willingness to comply with the Court’s orders," according to the filing. Further, the court documents stated that Petty’s probation officer "believes placement in the Location Monitoring Program will effectively allow for closer monitoring of Mr. Petty’s activities, limit his movements, provide a sanction for his non-compliance" and "encourage him to reflect upon and reevaluate his current status in the community."
Journalist Meghann Cuniff also wrote on Twitter/X that, in response to the legal fracas, Offset "LOL'd about it in a video as he walked off a jet," and noted that Petty waived a personal appearance before the Court, which "means Petty didn't even try to fight this."