While he maintains his innocence in the first-degree murder case he's been fighting in Baton Rouge, La., since June 2010, rapper Lil Boosie has pleaded guilty to drug smuggling charges and received an eight-year sentence, WAFT TV reports.

The Louisiana MC, whose real name is Torrence Hatch, admitted that he tried to sneak illegal substances into two separate correctional facilities -- the Dixon Correctional Center and the Angola State Penitentiary.

Boosie asked that his sentence include drug rehabilitation, and while Judge Mike Erwin agreed to recommend it, he's unable to order said penalty.

Erwin also set April 30, 2012, as the start date for Boosie's murder trial. The embattled 'Wipe Me Down' rhymer is accused of hiring two men to kill 35-year-old Baton Rouge resident Terry Boyd.

Since being locked up for that offense, Boosie has been linked to a series of other slayings, and earlier this year, 18-year-old Michael "Mario Mike" Louding told police the troubled hip-hopper paid him $15,000 to murder fellow rapper Chris "Nussie" Jackson.

According to WAFT, it's unknown at this time whether Boosie faces the death penalty.

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