Earlier this year Soulja Boy was pulled over and arrested after the LAPD found a gun in his car.

He claimed his neighbor had recently borrowed his ride and must have been the one to stash the Smith & Wesson .38 caliber under the seat.

He faced the music in court yesterday and pled no contest to carrying a loaded firearm in vehicle. In exchange for avoiding trial, prosecutors dropped possession charges.

That means Soulja Boy won't have to go to jail. Instead he gets 24 months summary probation and 170 hours of community service.

While this may be encouraging to fans of Bobby Shmurda, another young rapper facing weapons charges, they shouldn't get their hopes up too much. New York City's gun laws are much tougher than Cali's, and Shmurda was found with a lot more guns plus a dealer-sized amount of crack cocaine.