Rapper T.I. Arrested for Machine Gun Possession
According to People, Rapper T.I. (Clifford Harris) was a no-show at the BET Hip-Hop Awards over the weekend, even though he won two awards and was scheduled to perform. He had a good reason for his absence, though: he was in jail on weapons charges.
T.I., who is known as “King of the South” was arrested in shopping mall parking lot in Atlanta after he allegedly purchased illegal machine guns. He was formally charged federally with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.
According to unconfirmed reports, T.I. purchased the illegal weapons from someone who was cooperating with the ATF following his own arrest on similar charges on Wednesday.
I can already predict the defense at trial: entrapment. I do not even fully know the facts of the case, but anytime there is a high profile case involving undercover police or similar situations, it seems like the defense is always entrapment: The defendant would not have committed the crime had he not been enticed to do so by the police or someone acting as an agent of the police.
The charge of “possession of a firearm by a convicted felon” shows that this is not his first run-in with the law. T.I.’s previous felony was a 1997 conviction for distribution of cocaine. He received probation in that case, but was later incarcerated for a period of time in 2004 after violating his probation.
One of the two awards that he won at the BET Hip-Hop Awards was CD of the Year for T.I. vs. T.I.P.
The previously-recorded awards show will air this Wednesday on BET at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. T.I. is expected to appear before a magistrate judge sometime today.
T.I., machine guns, BET Hip-Hop Awards, BET, weapons charges
October 16th, 2007 at 8:30 am
[...] his hearing before a magistrate yesterday, he was instead ordered to remain in jail until Friday on weapons charges. He was arrested after reportedy purchasing several machine guns from a man who was cooperating [...]