ATLANTA (AP) — Rapper T.I. was expected to plead guilty Thursday to federal weapons charges and will face prison time, according to two people familiar with his case.
The 27-year-old singer, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was expected to be sentenced to 1,500 hours of community service talking to youth groups around the country, followed by about 12 months in prison, according to two people familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plea deal had not been finalized yet Thursday morning.
Harris is one of Atlantic Records' most successful artists. His sixth album, "T.I. vs. T.I.P.," was released July 3, debuting at No. 1. He appeared in the 2007 film "American Gangster," which starred Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.
His prison time could be increased or reduced, depending on his fulfillment of the terms of the deal and good behavior, the two people familiar with the negotiations said. His talks to youth groups are supposed to be about the pitfalls of guns, gangs and drugs.
The U.S. Attorney in Atlanta announced a change-of-plea hearing was scheduled Thursday afternoon at the federal courthouse. Prosecution officials were expected to speak to the media after the hearing.
U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr. must approve the deal.
Harris was arrested Oct. 13, just blocks away and hours before he was to headline the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta.
In other news…
He was charged with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers, as well as possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
Harris was allegedly trying to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers. He initially pleaded not guilty, and has been under house arrest since he was released on $3 million bond Oct. 26.
Harris, co-CEO of Grand Hustle Records, grew up in Atlanta. His first taste of success came with his 2003 album, "Trap Muzik." In 2004, warrants were issued for his arrest on probation violations for a drug conviction, and he was sentenced to three years behind bars.
COMMENTS
Gotta love the RICH in this country. Duke gets caught buying E-LEGAL burners WITH silencers, RED HANDED and gets off with COMMUNITY SERVICE.
Now, THAT'S gangsta!
hell yeah T.I. got lucky
im glad he aint in the box for that long
that would be shitty
yeah, 26 e-legal guns. thats crazy. and 1500 hours of community service... talkin to kids? Wow. Anybody else, i fthey even had the grace of God to get community service would be cleanin up shit on the streets n parks in the burnin sun.
Wow.... At Least It Ain't All That Bad But, Fucc It Livin Behind Tha Wallz Is Neva Really A Good Thing. Tyme Fuccin Stops For U And Keeps Movin For Tha Rest And U Find Out Who Is Ya Real Niggaz And Who Were The One's That were There To Just Be Around. I Hope Tha Best For Tha Nigga And Hopefully His Shyt Gets Cut Short. The Kidz Don't Need (From Seeing Popz On T.V. To Behind Tha Screen Or Glass Or Wuteva They Use Ova There)That. SCREAM AT ME,1..
what you mean hope his time get cut short? the nigga got 12 months, any time cut off for 26 autos and sliencers would be a fuckin vay-k. shit 12 months is a vay-k. I didnt hear anyone yelling for my 4 4yr sentences to be cut short and all I had was agg assualt robbery and 7 probation violations. That nigga got a blessing with only 12 months and 15g's in community service. Nigga lucky he aint get caught with no drugs they coulda hit with a RICO charge.
Lucky Ass Nigga!
shut the fuck up n log out n neva sign in again u fuckkin bitch
the power of the almighty dollar.
exactly!a nigga out here on the street would have never got that lucky.but for the record i am not hating.besides the man has kids to raise,and he cant raise them behind bars.
anything is better than sitting behind bars with other clowns who don't want to do anything better with their lives while time passes you by
It’s no coincidence that dude that killed TI’s homie got bagged, followed by this plea deal. The Feds don’t just let you off the hook like that B. Dude snitched on whoever murked his man instead of handling that and used it to get himself off the hook.
I thought I was the Only One that smelled something funny. I'm saying the FEDS don't Play, Community Service for machine guns and silencers. LOL. CRAZY?
i dotn give a fuck what got him such a sweet sentance.. im just pumped the kids comin back
Fuck you sayin? You don't give a fuck if he snitched, You Rat Lovin ass Nukka ! you might as well be a rat too COWARD !
hey thats why i try to get as much money as possible cause the truth is money is power.
i know alot of people is gonna hate on the fact that he got out easy one a federal offence charge but thats the way America works
the more money less sentence
It aint Money, I done seen Dudes with nuff Guap have to do way more time for less than what that fool got caught with. Thats whats wrong wit yall. Rat lovin ass Fuckboys, same nigga will be rappin some gangsta shit on his next record meanwhile got his man sent up on some pussy shit, fuck all yall rat lovin ass niggas, eat a pound of dick daily cowards.
I DONT CALL A YEAR IN PRISON OR A YEAR 1,500 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE GETTING OF. BUT I GUESS HE COULD HAVE GOTTIN IT A LOT WORSE.
If pleaing to 1 year and community service on a 10 year bid ain't getting off, what is.
Great news for T.I. and his fans. Glad to see that he'll be back soon. Hope he can stay out of trouble this time around.
Money is irrelevent, you either have something they want or you don't. The fed's don't care about the money they make their own. TI had to bring something to the table, plain and simple. Ask someone doing or who's done fed time, thier favorite phrase is "Help yourself." I'm not hating on what he did, but let's not get it twisted either.
Good shit for T.I. I hope he stays out for good after all this.
BTW....I wonder what would have happened if it was me instead of T.I.? Would I have gotten the same deal with the same amount of evidence.....hmmmm?
Like Snoop say, "Thats that Shit"
Hope its True.
1 YEAR COMMUNITY SERVICE?????????????? Thats some Paris hilton shit!!!!!!!!!!! (this mu fukka get caught *red handed* with got damn bazookas and shit and get one damn year!!!!!!) wow... congrats T.I cuz T.I.P almost got you fucked up.
I saw this story was on CNN headline news this morning and it said the same stuff this article does. Still could be false though. Lets just hope this is the deal they gave him.
well lookin on da bright side dis is a positive step for America. Its not a black-white thing.Cause TI is black. Its now more of a rich-poor thing cause my nigga got money. Happy 2 c a nigga get alighter sentence thou. O + can we stop da Free TIP movement hell he admitted it.
Good for him, knowing the kinda lawyers he has I bet he wont even do half that time.
WOW!! OJ Part 2??
LOL sike nah, Congrats to TI for not doing like 15 years. Christmas came early for him this year. Hopefully he won't do some dumb shit like buy guns from the Feds again.
Shit I need some of those lawyers....
"I'm the number one customer at my own car lot." Ughhh sicckkk...that boy got loooong money. They say money cant buy you happiness, but it'll buy you freedom. Good goin T.I., do your lil bid..and come back with some more of that crack music. I hope this iant a rumor, rumor ya know. I know he bought a milita's worth of firepower, but c'mon what street king dosen't??
now i know why he callin his new shit PAPER TRAIL.mo money mo problems shiiiiiit mo money mo freedom 4 t.i.
dats wassup im happy for tha dude. wish i could say the same thing bout Rem...ima really miss her
1 year and community service??? Thats whats up.
What good would throwing him behind bars for 10 to 15 do anyway. Now he can at least get out and really show our kids that the streets aren't the way to go.
I wonder what Prodigy has to think about this...
believe this clown ass nigga^
Dumb motherfuckers...make me sick! Everytime a dude beat a case or get off easy a dumb ass nigga gottasay he snitching. Any real nigga knows if you get a good lawyer and really work ya case u could fight anything! These be the same niggaz in the hood starting rumors and shit talkin bout niggaz is snithcing cuz he got a reduced sentence...no dickhead he probaly had a good ass lawyer or really studied his case his damnself. Talk abt what u kno dickheads
dude made a profile with all 1st bullshit.he musta got banned.lol
prop 2 abn....took the words rite out my mouth
If they let a sucker like ti get a yr then weezy better not get no time.if they lock up weezy they just tryin to destroy hiphop by taking away the most spectacular artist we have.wayne be pipin them hoes right so you know a lot of bitchs would be mad
That's some sarcasm for you people right there.
On the real thats some bullshit look at how many peeps are locked up for weed or sumtin stupid,this nigga had silencers & crazy guns,mag's & he a convict!This Judaical system is really fuct up,i aint no hater i like T.I. but thats sum bullshit!
Yeah, I don't think he snitched.
You KNOW he had good lawyers, provided by him and/or Atlantic since you know they don't want to see one of their "top-selling" artists go away when he was dropping a cd a year.
Plus, there were allegations that the way they arrested him was shady, and they didn't have warrants to search his house and whatnot ...
I bet it was just a messy case that couldn't be organized in time by the D.A.
Shit I think ma nigge tip is lucky as hell..now all we gots to do is just wait for dat nigga to come out and drop paper trail on us.......ya dig
what a publicity stunt good way to make money, or maybe you snitched out other mans who were higher than you in the gun smuggling business....who knows. just my thought
some of you people need to open your eyes, 1. he had not one, not two, not three but MANY of guns got caught smuggling them .2something like that your getting years, even you get 1 year of community service,you must be rich as fuck, or either snitched out a whole organization
...get with the program ppl
If dis ends up happenin T.I.P. should jus chill out..but he must have a reason for buyin them guns tho
FUCK TI,SHAWTY LO THE REAL BANK HEAD