Sarah Hall Thu Mar 27, 9:41 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - In the end, Remy Ma couldn't beat the rap.

The Grammy-nominated rapper (real name: Remy Smith) was convicted Thursday of shooting a woman outside a Manhattan nightclub in July 2007.

She faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced April 23.

Ma wiped tears from her eyes as the verdict was read and wept openly as she was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. The judge denied a request from her attorney, Ivan Fisher, to have her released on bail until her sentencing.

Her defense team had conceded that Ma, 26, fired a shot at a friend whom she suspected of stealing $3,000 from her but claimed that it was an accident.

In their version of events, Ma and her victim, Makeda Barnes Joseph, were struggling over Joseph's purse after Ma demanded to look inside for the missing money and Joseph refused. Amid the tussle, Ma's gun supposedly went off accidentally, launching a bullet into Joseph's gut.

However, Assistant District Attorney Michael McIntosh said that Ma "took every step you had to take to shoot somebody," including loading her illegal .45-caliber automatic with hollow point bullets and using both hands to cock the weapon.

Joseph survived the shooting, but required three operations on her abdomen and was hospitalized for several weeks, according to her testimony.

Ma was found guilty of assault, weapon possession and attempted coercion. She was acquitted of additional charges of witness tampering and gang assault, stemming from the beating of the boyfriend of a witness who ultimately testified against her.

Her attorney said he plans to appeal the ruling.