DMX plans on fighting the tax evasion charges levied against him. The Yonkers, N.Y., MC entered a plea of not guilty in a New York federal courtroom on Friday (July 14) and was freed on $500,000 bond after spending the night in jail, The Washington Post reports.

After being released, he sounded hopeful that he would be able to get things on track. “It’s allowed me to not be scared of the situation and face it head on, you know what I’m saying? My life is in God's hands,” he told reporters outside of the courthouse. The rapper plans on taking the process "one step at a time."

As previously reported, Earl was hit with a huge $1.7 million tax lien and charged with 14 counts of tax evasion on Thursday (July 13). The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York City claims the rapper owes the big sum to the IRS due to him concealing monies made from tracks he dropped back in the early 2000s, including “X Gon’ Give It to Ya.”

The IRS also alleges that X tried to conceal his income in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 by either reporting his income as "unknown" or drastically understating how much he actually made. If X is found guilty of all 14 counts of tax evasion, he’ll face 44 years in a federal prison.

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