As expected, rapper T.I. was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison as part of his plea deal with prosecutors over a 2007 felony weapons charge.
“Today I would like to say thank-you to some, and apologize to all,” the rapper said.
“Everything I learned was through trial and error. I’ve learned lessons in my life to put in my music so people won’t make the same mistakes as I.”
The 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., is required to voluntarily turn himself into prison within the next 30 to 60 days, but is not expected do so before May 19.
Northern Georgia District Judge Charles Pannell Jr., who praised the artist for exceeding the expectations required from his plea deal, acknowledged that T.I. had commitments that prevented him from being jailed before the May date.
It’s unclear where he will serve his time, though court officials acknowledged that he would be receiving credit for the 305 days he already spent in home detention.
“I think this has been a great experiment,” Pannell told the rapper of his plea deal. “I hope this experience can lead to other experiments so others won’t make the same mistake at all. I congratulate you.” …
The reformed rapper has made 262 public appearances as part of his community service agreement in addition to taking part in a pro-voting campaign, working with children and appearing in the MTV reality show Road to Redemption.
T.I. was arrested on Oct. 13, 2007, just hours before he was scheduled to headline the BET Hip-Hop Awards after cops busted him attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers.
As for his sentence, being as it is (just) more than one year long, he will be eligible for early release, should his good behavior warrant it. Had his sentence been one year or less, he would have been required to serve the duration of the time behind bars.
So they had to sentence him to an extra day in prison so that he could get released early? My God, our legal system is sooooo weird.
But, ya know, as much as one can be a good example by being brought up on a felony weapons charge, I think T.I.’s been a good example here. It’s refreshing to see a celebrity taking the conditions of their plea deals seriously and admitting to fault.
I agree with Beet for saying he was a good example because at least he’s trying to use what’s happening to him as a way to tell it’s wrong to be a criminal, and he isn’t bragging about it through his music. I’ve listened to most of his songs and he doesn’t sing about ass shaking or sipping Bacardi at the club, he’s singing about love, respect and faith. Kudos for taking it as a real man, T.I. !
~LIA~
im confused. an individual can get released early no matter how many days they have been sentenced to. My ex was in jail 5 times (he was a winner, i know) and was released early every single time. Sometimes a month or 2 months early, sometimes a week, sometimes a few days.
Boo-Hoo.
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Hello! The idiot was trying to buy machine guns.
Not exactly a choirboy.
He’s lucky he got 366 days, he should have gotten more.
Buh-bye.
No on e said he was a choir boy, but purchasing guns for your wn protection and shooting someone are two different things. I do not think that he should have attempted purchasing machine guns by any means, but it’s not a if he used them to shoot and murder someone and then got a year and a day.
Up in Canada, if the sentence is over 2 years the institution becomes a federal one instead of a provincial one (i.e., state). However, the federal guidelines for early release are more lenient than provincial guidelines usually are, AND early release is in the hands of parole authorities and not judges. The federal guidelines allow for, in some cases, only 1/8 of a sentence to be served. And because provincial remand (interim detention) centres are overcrowded a prisoner usually gets 2 for 1 credit for time served (sometimes 3 for 1 credit, but that means conditions are so bad that it’s really not worth going through). So instead of arguing to get a year and a day, as with T.I., sometimes defendants argue to try and get two years and a day in the hope of not really having to go to prison at all (any more, that is). For example, if I commit a (non-violent) B&E and plead guilty right away, and it only takes six weeks to go through the motions and convict me, and I’m on my best behaviour the whole way, that period could count as the entire time served if my lawyer is able to get a plea that has extra time attached to it.
Now, I’m not saying that Canada only gives B&Es six weeks. I’m saying that the math in the system (north and south) makes people make crazy arguments.
umm… he was “required to voluntarily turn himself in” … what part of “required” makes it “voluntary”???
and they “acknowledged that he had commitments that prevented him from being jailed before” WTF does that mean? That the next time I commit a crime I’ll make sure to let the judge know all my appointments so he can schedule the prison time accordingly?
America is messed up, machine guns and that’s not a big thing? DODGY.
What gets me is why they even sentenced him to 366 days…….he’s getting time served for 305, so he’s really only going in for 60 days…..they should have just sentenced him to 60 days!!!
t.i you did a good job for doing the right thimg and it was a bad thing you got ccaught but it was probably for a reason just know one thing for sure god will always be there in prison with you and you won`t have to worry bout nuttin cause you are a good man and your songs are true and arevery understanding. T.I BE GOOD IN PRISON FOR YOU CAN GET OUT AND MAKE A SONG ABOUT HOW LUCKY YOU ARE THAT YOU WEREN`T SENTENCED TO MORE THAN YOUR TIME. HAVE FAITH AND THINK ABOUT YOU AND YOUR KIDS YOUR KIDS WON`T WANNA SEE THERE DADDY IN PRISON FOR SO LONG SO IF YOU DON`T WANNA DO IT FOR YOU DO IT FOR YOUR KIDS I HAD TO LEARN THE HARD WAY OUT OF LOVE BUT YOU SHOULDN`T OK NO ONE SHOULD OK SO BE GOOD AND THINK ABOUT GOD.
TI everyone is Texas will continue to pray for you. He really gave a great concert for The State of Texas.