Eminem Pleads No Contest to Gun Charges

April 23 -- DETROIT (Reuters) — Rap superstar Eminem pleaded no contest today to two gun-related charges, less than two weeks after he was sentenced to two years' probation on a separate charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Matters III, was charged in an Oakland County, Michigan, court with carrying a concealed firearm and brandishing a weapon during an argument with the road manager of the rival band Insane Clown Posse outside a Royal Oak, Michigan, stereo store in 2000.

Sentencing was scheduled for June 5. He faces up to five years in prison, but his lawyers advised him to plead no contest on the expectation he would receive probation.

"We're very happy that the judge treated Mr. Mathers as she would treat any other defendant that appears before her," Mather's attorney Walter Piszczatowski told reporters after the hearing.

Earlier this month, Mathers was sentenced to two years' probation for carrying a concealed weapon during a brawl outside a Detroit-area nightclub. He allegedly pistol-whipped a man he saw kissing his wife, Kimberly Mathers, less than a week before the Royal Oak dispute. Mathers and his wife have since agreed to divorce.

Mathers, whose disc The Marshall Mathers LP sold 1.7 million copies in the first week it was released — making it the fastest-selling solo album ever on the U.S. music scene — won three Grammy Awards in February.