Looks like even more jail time is looming for rapper Ja Rule. The Grammy-nominated hip-hopster pleaded guilty on Tuesday to failing to file tax returns and promised to pay more than $1 million in back taxes and penalties to the Internal Revenue Service, The New Jersey District Attorney’s Office said.

Ja Rule, whose original name is Jeffrey Atkins, 35, pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to three counts of failing to file a tax return, from 2004 through 2008, even though he was making money from royalties and live tours.

“Each of us must pay our fair share to keep this country going,” US Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.

US Federal judge Patty Shwartz set bail at $500,000 and permitted Atkins’ release pending sentencing scheduled for June 13. He faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison on each count. In December, the “Always on Time” star was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to a weapons possession charge stemming from a 2007 incident in which he was pulled over by New York City Police, who discovered a semi-automatic handgun hidden in his car.

In court Monday, Ja Rule was promised a two-year prison sentence in exchange for his plea. He’s free until sentencing and is due back in court Feb. 9 for an update.

If convicted on the gun charge, the 34-year-old faced up to four years in prison.

The gun-possession case stems from a July 2007 stop of his luxury sports car. Police say they found a loaded semiautomatic gun in a rear door of his $250,000-plus Maybach after it was stopped for speeding following a Manhattan concert. The chauffeured car also had a suspended registration and no insurance, police said.

The platinum-selling rapper, born Jeffrey Atkins, simply replied: “This isn’t a good day…” and declined to discuss the case as he left a Manhattan court house Monday.

In 2002, Ja Rule’s Pain is Love album was nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy. The 34-year-old rapper has also appeared in movies, including the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious. The star had been tapped to appear alongside former Cheetah Girl Adrienna Bailon in Church Girl, a straight-to-DVD Christian film that had been expected to go into production in 2011.

Good Lord! Ja Rule’s going straight-to-DVD.

The once platinum-selling rapper has been cast as an ex-con-turned-pastor in a gospel-inspired film, featuring Adrienne Bailon of Cheetah Girls and 3LW fame.

The “Always On Time” singer will play the role of a drug dealer determined to change his life after meeting a churchgoing girl, played by Bailon in I’m in Love With a Church Girl (Not to be confused with I’m in Love With a Stripper…) The story is actually based on the memoirs of Pastor Galley Molina, who penned the script during a stint in prison.

“In 1996, I was sentenced to five years in prison,” says Molina. “During that time, even before I was arrested I was already attending church. It’s not like I went away and then found God. God and I were already having some time together. God used this; that’s why we tagline the movie ‘God sometimes uses extreme measures to deal with extreme circumstances.”

The pastor believes the rapper is the best person for the role saying:

“Ja Rule has been ministered to. He’s a dear friend. We’ve been praying for him a lot. He’s been open; he’s been so [receptive] to the word.”

I’m in Love With a Church Girl premieres in 2011.