Eight months after Kanye West allegedly assaulted a photographer at Los Angeles airport, the superstar rapper pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced accordingly by a California judge.
Kanye himself didn't appear in court on Monday afternoon, but his lawyer gave the judge his "no contest" plea for the alleged battery charge, which is the equivalent to guilty in this case. Daniel Ramos—the paparazzi photographer prosecuting West over the July 19 incident—appeared in court and vehemently urged the judge to punish West.
"I feel Kanye west should be sent to jail for his attack on me at LAX airport," Ramos told the court. "I was only doing my job… In fact, I gave him a compliment and told him he was cool… I'm still suffering from taking medication as the result of the attack [and suffering] pain on right hip area, and suffering mentally and emotionally."
Ramos even went as far as to claim Kanye used the incident as PR for his last album. "Kanye used me to promote his Yeezus album and Yeezus concert," Ramos said. "Kanye needs to be stopped before he can seriously hurt someone else."
Despite Ramos' plea, the judge said he would treat Kanye West "the same as any defendant… in a battery case." The judge sentenced Kanye West to 250 hours community service, 24 months probation and hit him with a "book and release" jail sentence that Kanye will have to fulfill within the next week. That means Kanye will show up in court, be arrested, taken to jail, processed and immediately released.
The judge also gave West a 100 yard restraining order, but expressed concern that Ramos—who is still a celebrity photographer—could potentially approach West as part of his job. "I don’t want Mr. West to be placed in a position where he has to turn and run to get outside the 100 yards," the judge said.
Ramos' attorney said the photographer would keep that in mind, and unsurprisingly, the rapper's attorney assured the judge that Kanye had no interest in interacting with Ramos ever again.
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