Federal weapons charges, with their accompanying harsh sentences, are enough to take anyone down. Yet since his guilty plea a year ago, Atlanta rapper T.I. has enjoyed the greatest success of his career.

His CD, “Paper Trail,” debuted atop the Billboard charts in October. He produced two No. 1 singles, including “Live Your Life,” featuring Rihanna. Last month, he appeared at the Grammys, where he won an award for best rap performance by a duo or group.


• Atlanta and Fulton County news But T.I., one of the world’s best-known rap artists, is about to take a one-year hiatus at a federal detention facility. On Friday, as part of his extraordinary deal with federal prosecutors, T.I. will be sentenced a year after his guilty plea.

According to the plea agreement, T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., will be sentenced to one year and a day.

The extra day means T.I. can carve 15 percent off of his sentence with good behavior. Under U.S. Bureau of Prison rules, inmates can earn such credit only if they are sentenced to longer than a year in prison. T.I. should serve an estimated 298 days — or a little less than 10 months. He is expected to get credit for the two weeks he sat in jail after his arrest and before posting a $3 million bond.

T.I.’s troubles began Oct. 13, 2007, just hours before he was to receive two awards at the BET Hip-Hop Awards ceremony in Atlanta. He was arrested in a Midtown parking lot by federal agents for trying to buy machine guns and silencers. A search of his car and home yielded a number of handguns and rifles, a problem because T.I. had a prior felony conviction for cocaine distribution.

T.I. pleaded guilty to illegal firearms possession and being a convicted felon with a firearm.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommended T.I. serve at least four years and nine months behind bars.

But T.I.’s defense team worked out an unheard-of deal with federal prosecutors: If T.I. would perform at least 1,000 hours of community service, telling kids about the pitfalls of crime, drugs and gangs and encouraging them to respect the law, he could surrender to the Bureau of Prisons a year later and get a reduced sentence.

Area criminal defense lawyers howled in protest, saying T.I. traded his celebrity for leniency. Federal prosecutors countered the rapper’s influential message would help prevent crime.

T.I. has fulfilled his part of the bargain, Steve Sadow, one of the rapper’s lawyers, said.

“T.I. took this opportunity and ran with it beyond anyone’s expectations.”

A sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday by T.I.’s defense team says the rapper has complied with all the requirements of his plea agreement. This includes serving 300 days of home confinement, attending more than 260 events and earning 1,006 hours of community service credit.

T.I. has been to 25 states and spoken to tens of thousands of teens and adults.

Over the past year, he went to 58 schools, 12 Boys and Girls Clubs, nine churches and other community functions. He was visited two Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, one in Columbus and another in DeKalb County.

After T.I. spoke to 160 high school teenagers at the Georgia Supreme Court, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears called the rapper’s presentation “outstanding.”

“You have the courage to carefully search your soul, oftentimes wrestling with demons that the rest of us are terrified to disturb,” Sears wrote in a letter attached to the sentencing memo. “I am sure that you have touched many young lives.”

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yep today is his last day (this year) to

live his life, ay-ay ay-ay ay-ay

Cinnie said:

I'll be there with the banners and doves

10 months aint bad. I hope for the best....never hated T.I. like I do some of his peers.

you have to give credit to TI for realising he has made such stupid mistakes and talking to kids and encouraging them not to make the same ones is a good move.

At least he is man enough to admit his mistakes.

He seems to be a guy at odds with himself, but luckilly it seems he has finally got the message to stay away from violence and guns.

Lets hope he stays out of trouble!

Praying for Tip that everything works out for him. He has done a great job with his community service and turning all this negativity positive. Has anyone seen his Road To Redemption show? Very nicely done.

I think its really a sign of the times and how people just dont get it, that he has a show about going to jail and its nothing more than the sympathy card being played. These dude was traveling with enough guns in his car to wipe out a school, i dont care what his excuse is, if you are that scared of what is around you, most of the time, you are not admitting the problem, and that problem is the enviroment you surround YOURSELF with, it doesnt surround you, you are in a position to chose where you wanna go, and you chose to hang with dudes that make you feel "real" or "hard" or whatever, that is all BULLSHIT pride. If i was in a Bad enviroment, and all of a sudden i made $$$ i would be gone, so far away from the life that i had, fuck all this, going back to the streets and your roots. WTF is with that, everyone is trying to make $$$ to get the fuck away, not stay and chill in the same shit. Can we at least recognize the bullshit standards we are advocating here?? Dude comitted a major felony and now has a TV show to explain himself??? Robert Downey Jr did more time from him and did nothing to anyone but himself? can we see the bullshit here?

I never watched that show... lol

Timmy84 said:

Yeah, I didn't even know he had a show until a couple weeks ago. lol

lastdecember said:

and whatever happened to private security? dude could afford bodyguards to keep away the haters supposedly threatening his family. hopefully the time will go by fast for him and he won't fuck up again. he has to think of his children.