Lauryn Hill pleads guilty to tax evasion charges

Eight-time Grammy winner Lauryn Hill pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges Friday for failing to pay taxes on $1.8 million in income over three years.

Appearing in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., Hill admitted not filing tax returns from 2005 to 2007. 

More from GlobalPost: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes announce divorce

She faces up to three years in prison and $75,000 in fines and will be sentenced in November, The Associated Press reported.

A New Jersey native, the 37-year-old hip-hop singer and rapper is best known as a former member of the Fugees and for a Grammy-winning 1998 solo album. She then largely disappeared from the public to raise her six children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley.

More from GlobalPost: Nora Ephron play 'to go ahead' on Broadway

Hill spoke little during Friday's hearing and declined to comment afterward.

Her attorney, Nathan Hockman, said the star had been targeted by the federal government because of her celebrity status.

"There are many people in society who fail to file their taxes on time who only face civil liability," Hockman told The Star-Ledger. "They chose Ms. Hill in particular because of who she was."

Earlier this month, Hill responded to the charges in a lengthy statement, saying she had chosen to "defer" payments during a period of withdrawal from society to protect her family's safety, Reuters reported.