March 27, 2009 15:55

T.I. sentenced to one year in prison

The rap star is convicted on weapons charges

A US judge has sentenced rap star TI to a year and a day in prison on federal weapons charges.

The sentence was issued today (March 27) in Atlanta by US District Judge Charles Pannell Jr, following TI's guilty plea in which he admitted to attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers.

The 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, will have between 30 and 60 days to report to jail, reports the Associated Press. He has already finished about 1,000 hours of community service work and has spoken out to young people about the danger of guns, drugs and violence.

After he was sentenced, TI issued an apology, saying, "Today I would like to say thank you to some, and apologize to all."

TI had originally pleaded not guilty and faced a maximum of 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine for each count until he cut a deal last March in which he pleaded guilty.

He explained in the past that fear had motivated him to buy the guns since his best friend, Philant Johnson, was killed in 2006 following a performance.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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