3rd Bass’ Pete Nice Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

It'll be three years of probation and a hefty debt to repay for one golden-era rapper. Prime Minister Pete Nice, real name Peter Nash, of the '80s rap group 3rd Bass, has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax fraud.

According to the Associated Press, the Queens, N.Y.-bred MC failed to pay state income taxes from 2009 to 2011. Based on those claims by the Albany Country District Attorney's Office, he'll have to cough up $13,101 to avoid further trouble and receive three years of probation.

Pete Nice and fellow 3rd Bass members MC Search and DJ Richie Rich first achieved fame after dropping their 1989 debut 'The Cactus Album,' which spawned hits like 'Gas Face' and 'Steppin' to the A.M.' 'Pop Goes the Weasel!,' a song featured on their 1991 third LP, 'Derelicts of Dialect,' reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks charts that same year.

This isn't the first time Pete Nice has been in trouble with the law. After opening up a baseball memorabilia store in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 2003, he was accused of having having fake baseball memorabilia just four years later. And in 2010, he was involved in a school loan scandal in Brooklyn, N.Y.

There's been no word yet from the rapper on the current tax fraud charges. He will be sentenced on Aug. 26.