New York  - Grammy-nominated rapper Remy Ma was sentenced to eight years in jail Tuesday for shooting a friend outside a New York nightclub in July 2007.

In the case the jury heard that Ma, whose real name is Remy Smith, shot the woman because she believed the friend had stolen 3,000 dollars from her purse. The victim suffered internal injuries from the shooting and was hospitalized for three weeks.

Ma's lawyers claimed that the gun went off accidentally in a scuffle between the two women. But the jury found Ma guilty of assault, weapons possession and attempted coercion.

Manhattan criminal court judge Rena Uviller said Ma was "an extremely angry young woman whose anger is completely out of control."

The sentence was handed down at the end of a tumultuous few days for Ma. She had been scheduled to marry her fiance, the rapper Papoose, Monday at New York's Rikers Island jail, but the ceremony was canceled after a handcuff key was discovered on Papoose, officials said.

Remy Ma was nominated for a Grammy as part of the Terror Squad for the 2004 US hit single Lean Back.

She has also had solo success with songs like Conceited and Feels So Good, and earned the best female hip-hop artist award at 2005's BET Awards. (dpa)