Ja Rule leaves federal prison

The Federal Bureau of Prisons says he left a correctional facility in New York's Adirondacks on Tuesday, though time remains on his sentence.

The bureau says the release date for the 36-year-old rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, technically remains 28 July, with possible community-based supervision for the balance.

TMZ reports his wife picked him up and he'll remain in home confinement until then.

Ja Rule had served most of a two-year sentence for illegal gun possession in a New York state prison before his release in February and subsequent transfer into federal custody in the tax evasion case.

He admitted failing to pay taxes on more than $3m earned between 2004 and 2006.