Dead and Gone..

By now, I'm pretty sure everyone has heard about T.I's arrest on federal gun charges back in October, 2007. T.I aka T.I.P's real name is Clifford Joseph Harris. When he was arrested, he was in the parking lot of the rehearsal B.E.T awards. He had been arrested after his bodyguard/informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers, according to a Justice Department statement.

Officials say that T.I provided his bodyguard with 12g's to buy the weapons, which he isn't allowed to hold down because he is a convicted felon. Documents said that he was convicted on felony drug charges back in '98 and he has stated himself that he has been arrested 32 times since the age of 15. Come on now, with that type of history you already know you're not supposed to even have a .45 in your possession.

T.I was nominated for nine awards, including album of the year and lyricist of the year. He was also scheduled to perform with Common, Nelly, and Kanye West. The show went on without the "King of the South." His car and College Park home were searched following his arrest.

Authorities ended up finding three more firearms in the car which he drove to go pick up the machine guns and silencers, including one loaded gun tucked between the driver's seat and the center console. At home, authorities found six other guns--five loaded, in his bedroom closet.

It really hit him hard when T.I's bodyguard was arrested while purchasing the machine guns and silencers from an undercover Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent. The bodyguard agreed to cooperate with the ATF! [snitches get stitches!]The guns were not registered on the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by law. The bodyguard -- who has worked for T.I since July, told authorities he had bought about nine guns for him in the past..smh he's wilin.

T.I made a plea deal to do 1,000hrs of community service and pay a $100,000 fine. Under the plea deal, he will be subjected to an audit of his finances, drug counseling, DNA testing and random searches of his property, and he will not be able to own firearms. He will also be under home confinement under the same pre-trial conditions, which included a curfew, permission-only travel with a court-appointed supervisor, and complete another 500hrs of community service, he would only be sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

Some of his services were televised on MTV with a show called "T.I's Road to Redemption." Over the last 7 weeks it aired 7 different shows of troubled youths that T.I had helped. He did everything from taking them to jail, to taking them to the funeral home, to taking them on a shopping spree. He also made any of their dreams come true. If they wanted to be an actor, photographer, boxer, or rapper, he made that possible for them to do.

According to court reports, T.I. has completed 1,030 hours of community service, not including his MTV show. He's also completed 305 days of his required one-year home confinement. His plea sentence is notable, according to legal experts because of the length of time. If T.I were to be sentence just for a year, he would be required to complete the entire sentence. Now the fact that he has been sentenced to a year and 1 day allows him to be released earlier for good behavior, if he doesn't fuck up. [smart right?]

Basically T.I went off the wall after seeing his best friend, Philant Johnson get murdered. I'm guessing it was the aftermath of it all and how it all went down. Johnson was killed in the cross-fire of a drive-by of suspects unknown. So after that T.I decided to be more than prepared and that combined with emotional distress can result in "O.D-ing" so to speak. Do I think he O.D'd by having illegal possession of all those firearms, and types of firearms? Yes I do. I've also had my best friend pass away, he was street racing and got into a car accident. But that never made me want to stop driving, or not want to buy the make of the car he was driving. But I do understand where he is coming from. I honestly think after he serves his sentence, he will be bigger success than ever before. He's going to write an entire album while he's in prison and everyone will be awaiting his return. It's like T.I's ressurection. I honestly can't wait, best believe I'll be blogging about him in a year...and a day.