Rapper T.I. sentenced to year and a day in prison, fined Story Highlights Rapper T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, sentenced on weapons charges He also must forfeit property, have supervised release, do more community service T.I. was arrested in federal sting hours before appearance at BET awards show He has mentored at-risk students as part of community service ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — Rap star T.I. was sentenced in Atlanta federal court Friday to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay a $100,300 fine on weapons charges related to purchasing machine guns and silencers. The rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, reached the terms of the sentence in a plea agreement with prosecutors last year. “I would like to say thank you to some, and apologize to others,” Harris said at his sentencing. “In my life, I have been placed in the worst-case scenario and had to make the best of it,” he said. “Most often, things I have learned have been from trial and error. I knew no way to protect myself than to arm myself.” He was dressed in a gray suit and black shirt and tie. Harris, 28, also was sentenced to some property forfeiture, supervised release for three years after his prison sentence, 365 days of home confinement and 1,500 hours of community service. He has already served 305 days of home confinement and 1,030 hours of service. He also must undergo DNA testing and drug counseling, cannot own firearms and must submit to reasonable searches and a financial audit. Watch the rapper’s interview with CNN’s T.J. Holmes » Former Atlanta Mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young spoke on behalf of Harris, comparing black-on-black violence to the Ku Klux Klan decades ago. Young said he regarded working with Harris not so much as a chance to help him but more as “an opportunity for him to help me.” “We hit it off immediately,” Young said. “It was a grandfather type of relationship.” Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Baptist Church also spoke in support of Harris. Read the full story here
