CNN) -- Rapper T.I. was released from prison on Tuesday after seven months, his attorney confirmed.
The performer, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., will serve the remainder of a reduced sentence in a correctional center near Fulton County Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.
Harris was sentenced to a year and a day in March 2009 resulting from weapons charges related to purchasing machine guns and silencers.
Officials charged him with providing a bodyguard with $12,000 to buy weapons.
In May, he reported to a federal prison complex in Forrest City, Arkansas, to begin serving his sentence.
In addition to serving prison time, T.I. was placed on house arrest, given community service and was ordered to pay a $100,300 fine.
It was not the first time the platinum-selling artist had been in trouble with the law.
Harris was not permitted to own any guns because he had been convicted in 1998 on felony drug charges, possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, in Cobb County in suburban Atlanta.
After the rapper's arrest, he entered a plea agreement, which federal authorities called unique because it allowed him to remain out of prison for a year while he performed.
Steve Sadow, Harris' attorney, said prisoners with Harris' sentence are eligible for a 54-day sentence reduction for good behavior.
Harris is expected to remain at the halfway house for three months and will still be required to finish serving slightly less than 500 hours of community service and about 23 days of home incarceration.
Before reporting to prison, Harris threw himself a going-away party/concert attended by thousands at Philips Arena in Atlanta.
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Showing posts with label halfway house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halfway house. Show all posts
My man T.I. Is on his way to a halfway house... he will be home soon!
Rapper T.I. may be moving to a halfway house soon
By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5:08 p.m. Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Atlanta rap star T.I. is expected to be moved to a halfway house shortly after the first of the year as he nears the end of his federal prison sentence for illegal firearms possession and for possessing a gun as a convicted felon, officials confirmed Tuesday.
T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., began serving his sentence of a year and a day at a low-security prison in Arkansas last May. He is expected to be released from Bureau of Prisons custody on March 23, after serving 85 percent of his sentence.
Bureau of Prisons spokesman Edmond Ross said it was customary for an inmate to transition from prison to freedom via a halfway house if there is no danger to the community and if there is space at a facility near where he is to live after his prison time.
Usually that process begins when there are 18 months remaining on a sentence, “but in this case it would have to start sooner. It’s not uncommon for inmates to be placed in community corrections for the last portion of their confinement to help with his transition.”
Harris also could spend the final month of his sentenced confined to his house, Ross said.
Harris pleaded guilty in 2008 to possessing two silencers, three machine guns, a rifle and six handguns. In total, federal officers found 24 handguns, machine guns and rifles in Harris' Range Rover and hree machine guns at his house in College Park.
Harris -- convicted Cobb County in 1998 for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute -- he also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearms by a felon.
Federal agents targeted Harris in 2007 after they arrested his body guard, who bought guns from undercover agents. He said the three machine guns and two silencers were for Harris.
Shortly after the bodyguard arrest, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents arrested T.I. when he took delivery of the weapons from the bodyguard. The arrest took place just hours before, and blocks away from where Harris was to receive two awards at the 2007 BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta.
As part of his plea deal, Harris agreed to spend 1,500 hours talking to at-risk children and teens; including 1,000 due before prison. After he is released, Harris has a year on house arrest and two more on probation. The government fined him $100,000.
By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5:08 p.m. Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Atlanta rap star T.I. is expected to be moved to a halfway house shortly after the first of the year as he nears the end of his federal prison sentence for illegal firearms possession and for possessing a gun as a convicted felon, officials confirmed Tuesday.
T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., began serving his sentence of a year and a day at a low-security prison in Arkansas last May. He is expected to be released from Bureau of Prisons custody on March 23, after serving 85 percent of his sentence.
Bureau of Prisons spokesman Edmond Ross said it was customary for an inmate to transition from prison to freedom via a halfway house if there is no danger to the community and if there is space at a facility near where he is to live after his prison time.
Usually that process begins when there are 18 months remaining on a sentence, “but in this case it would have to start sooner. It’s not uncommon for inmates to be placed in community corrections for the last portion of their confinement to help with his transition.”
Harris also could spend the final month of his sentenced confined to his house, Ross said.
Harris pleaded guilty in 2008 to possessing two silencers, three machine guns, a rifle and six handguns. In total, federal officers found 24 handguns, machine guns and rifles in Harris' Range Rover and hree machine guns at his house in College Park.
Harris -- convicted Cobb County in 1998 for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute -- he also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearms by a felon.
Federal agents targeted Harris in 2007 after they arrested his body guard, who bought guns from undercover agents. He said the three machine guns and two silencers were for Harris.
Shortly after the bodyguard arrest, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents arrested T.I. when he took delivery of the weapons from the bodyguard. The arrest took place just hours before, and blocks away from where Harris was to receive two awards at the 2007 BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta.
As part of his plea deal, Harris agreed to spend 1,500 hours talking to at-risk children and teens; including 1,000 due before prison. After he is released, Harris has a year on house arrest and two more on probation. The government fined him $100,000.
