Busta Rhymes' plea offer withdrawn

NEW YORK, March 26 (UPI) -- Busta Rhymes' arrest for driving with a suspended license led to a New York judge withdrawing an offer of no jail time for assault charges, officials said.

Judge Tanya Kennedy on Monday withdrew an offer made Feb. 20 that would have allowed Rhymes to plead guilty to third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, for the two charges, AllHipHop.com reported. In one case, Rhymes, born Trevor Smith, was accused of assaulting his former driver. In the other, Rhymes allegedly assaulted a fan that spit on his vehicle.

The offer would have required Rhymes to perform five days of community service, two weeks of youth lectures and six months of anger management classes.

Rhymes, 34, was reportedly prepared to accept the offer Monday, but Kennedy withdrew the plea offer because the rapper was arrested Feb. 22 for driving with a suspended license.

Prosecutors offered Rhymes a new deal that would have allowed him to avoid a trial but called for the rapper to serve one year in jail for both of the assault charges.

Rhymes rejected the offer and is scheduled to stand trial on the assault charges starting May 8.