Petey Pablo Serving Out Time, Rapper Behind Bars For 3-Year Jail Term

Southern rapper Petey Pablo is reportedly working away at a three-year jail sentence with reports claiming he quietly began the term last month.

Details on his current incarceration emerged online over the weekend.

Bad News: Rapper Petey Pablo kicked off his 2012 by reporting to prison. Good News: At least he's going to get an education out of it. The former platinum selling rapper -- who was arrested for trying to smuggle a gun through an airport ... on SEPTEMBER 11 of all days -- finally began his three-year prison term on January 4 by turning himself in to a medium security federal correction institution in West Virginia. According to court docs obtained by TMZ, the court recommended Pablo receive "intensive substance abuse treatment, vocational training and educational opportunities" while locked up. He is scheduled be released on July 17, 2014. (TMZ)

In late September, Pablo was handed his three-year jail sentence.

Rapper and Wake Forest resident Petey Pablo was sentenced Monday to 35 months in prison on a federal gun charge, authorities said. Pablo, 38, whose real name is Moses Barrett III, pleaded guilty in March to possession of a stolen firearm. The rapper, best known for his hit songs "Raise Up" and "Freek-a-Leek," was arrested at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Sept. 11, 2010, when a security screener found a 9mm handgun in his carry-on luggage. Investigators later determined that the gun was stolen during a 2005 residential burglary in Gardena, Calif., authorities said. (WRAL News)

When asked about the possibility of jail time a week prior, Pablo expressed hope for a positive outcome.

"I mean, I always feel confident," Pablo said in an interview. "In the end, the truth always comes to the light. And, regardless of what the outcome is, I'm a man. And whatever has been written in my book of life is written in my book of life. So whatever the outcome of any situation is, I have no choice but to handle it." (Hip Hop DX)

The "Raise Up" rapper was arrested on a gun possession charge back in 2010.

Raleigh-Durham International Airport spokeswoman Mindy Hamlin says 37-year-old Petey Pablo -- whose real name is Moses Barrett III -- was arrested Saturday (September 11) morning. He is charged with being a felon with a gun and carrying a concealed, stolen weapon. Hamlin says Transportation Security Administration agents found a gun in the rapper's carry-on luggage. (Associated Press)