DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 4:55 p.m. March 27, 2009
T.I. sentenced to 1 year, 1 day on gun violations
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Atlanta rap artist T.I. will go to federal prison sometime after Mother’s Day and serve a year and a day for crimes that might get anybody else about five years in the slammer.
In October 2007, Atlanta rapper T.I. was arrested by federal undercover agents in a Midtown parking lot trying to buy machine guns, ammo and silencers.
Vino Wong / vwong@ajc.com
T.I. leaves the courtroom after being sentenced to prison.
At a sentencing hearing Friday in Atlanta, the 27-year-old singer (real name: Clifford Harris Jr. — latest CD: “Paper Trail”), told U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell Jr. he was sorry, humbled by his arrest, and a changed man.
“I am a man of integrity, I’m a man of morals, of standards, of principle,” he told Pannell. “I know it’s difficult to believe that — looking at my criminal history.”
In exchange for shaving almost three years off his prison sentence, the singer has performed more than 1,000 hours of community service over the last year, telling kids and fans around the country not to emulate his old lifestyle of drugs, guns, gangs and violence.
Meanwhile he found time to star in his own MTV reality show, “T.I.’s Road To Redemption,” while becoming one of the hottest acts in show biz, with three hit songs and a Grammy Award.
He was dressed in a black shirt and tie and trim dark suit that accentuated his slight build. His attorneys argued in a court filing that his charisma with troubled youths is “literally mesmerizing,” and he flashed a bit of that showmanship.
After addressing the court for about fifteen minutes, most of his speech humble and beseeching, he wheeled to return to the defense table, raised an arm, and motioned at the judge.
“I bid farewell to you,” he said.
When T.I.’s high-powered defense team that included Don Samuel, Ed Garland, Steve Sadow, and Dwight Thomas, cut the plea deal last year with U.S. Attorney David Nahmias, it came under sharp criticism from some as another example of celebrity justice, bought and paid for.
On Friday T.I. and his attorneys called in former U.N. Ambassador, Atlanta mayor and civil rights leader Andrew Young, who wholeheartedly endorsed the deal.
Young told Pannell he met T.I. last year, at the urging of a University of Georgia professor, and the two of them “hit it off immediately.”
He described their relationship as like a child and grandparent, saying the two of them worked together in community outreach, visiting victims of violent crimes in New York, and a movie was made out of that collaboration.
“It’s estimated that movie may have reached an audience of five million,” said Young, who T.I. hugged and patted him on the back afterwards.
A crew from MTV captured more footage for its T.I. show outside the courthouse, where, along with about another dozen TV crews, reporters gathered for a news conference after the hearing. A year ago, T.I., issued a short statement.
This time he spoke for a few minutes then took questions from reporters.
“Although I am not thrilled about my next year and a day,” he said, “I am pleased that I am beginning to put this all behind me.”
With good behavior, that year and a day sentence in prison may end up being less than 10 months, his lawyers said. He has not been assigned to a federal prison, but has requested that it be in a facility near Atlanta so he can be near his family.
Judge Pannell told T.I. his sentence was an “experiment” that had turned out well, and for that, the judge said, he and T.I. and U.S. Attorney David Nahmias should all be thankful.
“If you had failed, I would have simply sent you to prison,” said Pannell. “I would have probably hung Mr. Nahmias out the window of the 23rd floor.”
He laughed. So did Nahmias, the courtroom, and everybody at the defense table.
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