March 28, 2008 10:35

Rapper faces jail after pleading guilty to gun charge

Plea bargain saves TI from longer sentence

Rapper TI has pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing firearms at a hearing in Atlanta today (March 28).

The star, born Clifford Harris, was arrested last October for possession of machine guns that a bodyguard has purchased for him.

Initially, the rapper pleaded not guilty, which would have left him facing a possible ten-year prison stretch for each of the charges.

However, after a plea bargain he will now serve 1000 hours of community service working with young people, in exchange for a lighter one-year prison sentence and a $100,000 fine. He will also spend three years on supervised release and could face more community service.

Sentencing will formally take place in March 2009, though his US attorney has warned the rapper he faces a more serious sentence if he breaks his side of the agreement.

"I'm not looking forward to being incarcerated," TI told the Atlanta Journal And Constitution. "I have a long road of redemption to travel... I realise completely I violated the law, and I take it very seriously."