The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was facing up to five years in prison for evading $1.7m (£1.2m, €1.4m) in taxes.
The father of 15 wept as he asked the court for leniency, so he could spend more time with his 18-month old son, who has a medical condition that has ready required two operations, reports Sky News.
After listening to the song Slippin’, and taking into account DMX’s guilty plea, Manhattan Federal Court judge Rakoff handed down a one-year sentence.
DMX also has to pay back $2.3m.
Rakoff refuted his lawyers’ defence that DMX was unaware that his actions were illegal, but described him as a “good man” when he passed sentence on Thursday.
Chequered past
DMX’s lawyer Murray Richman, who has represented the rapper in various cases over 20 years, said: “His life experiences were horrible. I’ve heard terrible tales, but I’ve never heard such horrible upbringing as this,” reports US-based NBC News.
“We thought the [music] video would really demonstrate to the court just what he had to go through to get to where he was.”
Richman added: “I grant you, he has been arrested over 30 times in his life. But in the last five years, he has never been arrested and he’s trying to put his life back together.”
In 2013, DMX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in part stemming from more than $1.3m owed in unpaid child support.
According to the court filing, at the time, he owed money to between one and 49 creditors and owned assets worth between $50 and $50,000.
