Rapper T.I. Gets One Year Sentence on Weapons Charges

by Jarrett Martineau | March 27, 2009 at 11:18 am

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"Been thuggin' all my life
Can't say I don't deserve to take a break
You'd rather see me catch a case
And watch my future fade away..."
-- T.I., Live Your Life

Turns out that might not be too far from the truth, for rapper T.I. who caught a case on weapons charges Friday — for which T.I. (aka Clifford Harris) has been sentenced to one year in prison.

Harris plead guilty to the charges after having been arrested in 2007 for "attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers".

He will have up to 2 months to report to prison.

A judge sentenced Rapper T.I. to one year and a day behind bars on federal weapons charges on Friday.

The 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, entered court smiling as he greeted his lawyers and family members. He wore a dark gray suit and black dress shirt and tie for sentencing.

"Today I would like to say thank you to some, and apologize to all," the rapper told U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr. at the 1 and 1/2 hour session.

Harris pleaded guilty last March after he was arrested in 2007, attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers. The arrest on Oct. 13 of that year occurred blocks from where he was to headline the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta hours later.

He will have between 30 and 60 days to report to prison. Harris already has completed about 1,000 hours of community service and has warned youths about the pitfalls of guns, drugs, violence. He will need to complete 470 additional hours.

"Everything I learned was through trial and error," Harris also told the judge. "I've learned lessons in my life to put in my music so people won't make the same mistakes as I."