Gonzalez received the minimum sentence in a Norfolk, Va., court under federal guidelines by U.S. District Court Judge Jerome Friedman, based in part on his cooperation in the case and relatively minimal criminal history, according to the Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

Members of rap duo Clipse were reportedly not involved in any aspect of the case.

Gonzalez owned up to running the operation, which was also linked to one-time Olympic track medallist Tim Montgomery, chiefly from the Encore Lounge.

During a five-year period, Gonzalez was reportedly responsible for distributing more than a half-ton of cocaine, a ton of marijuana and hundreds of pounds of heroin through the region, according to the paper. The gross value of the drugs was once estimated at $10 million, but authorities now say the correct figure is at least twice that.

“These are obviously staggering amounts of drugs,” Assistant U.S. District Attorney Darryl Mitchell told the court. “One can only imagine what that’s done to the community.”

Gonzalez, who presumably made a reasonable living managing Clipse, was someone who would have been successful without dealing drugs, his attorney reportedly told the judge. He told Pollstar in a 2002 cover story with Clipse that he and the pair had been working with luminaries such as Pharrell Williams and Justin Timberlake.

The judge was apparently puzzled by Gonzalez’s behavior as well, reflected in the minimum sentence and his comments in court.

“It’s hard for me to imagine it’s the same person,” Judge Friedman said, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

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