T.I Pleads Guilty To Gun Charges

T.I

TI has pleaded guilty to various weapons charges following that arrest just before the BET Awards in Atlanta last Autumn where he was found to be in possession of various unregistered firearms, a crime all the worst given he was already on probation.

The rapper, real name Clifford Harris, originally tried to have a bulk of the charges against him and some of his early police statements withdrawn on the basis police had failed to follow the correct procedure in searching his home and questioning him. But yesterday he pleaded guilty to three charges, possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of machine guns and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In a slightly confusing ruling, the rapper was ordered to do 1500 hours community service, but the rest of his sentence will not be decided for a year. He will have to do at least 1000 hours of the community service before then, and presumably the severity of the subsequent sentence will depend on his community efforts. As I understand it, he could get up to ten years in jail for the charges he has pleaded guilty to.

He is expected to do his community service by working with youth groups and telling the kids about the dangers of guns, gangs and drugs.