T.I. Sentenced To A Year & A Day In Jail

The “King of the South” T.I. was sentenced in a downtown Atlanta Federal court earlier this morning (March 27), according to the plea agreement he made last March during his trial for his October 2007 arrest for weapons possession.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports T.I.’s defense team filed a sentencing memorandum on Wednesday (March 25) detailing the rapper’s compliance with the provisions of his extraordinary plea deal, which required 1,000 hours of community service involving telling children the dangers of violence and gangs.

Over the course of the past year, T.I. served 300 days of home confinement and earned 1,006 hours of community service credit by attending events such as the Hip-Hop Caucus and visiting 58 schools, 12 Boys and Girls Clubs, nine churches, two Georgia juvenile facilities and other community functions.

“T.I. took this opportunity and ran with it beyond anyone’s expectations,” said his attorney Steve Sadow. The rapper used his MTV show Road To Redemption as another vehicle to reach at-risk children, though he didn’t receive any community service credit for the show.

Once in jail, T.I. may only end up serving about 10 months of his sentence as a result of the extra day being tacked onto his sentence. Under federal guidelines, with good behavior, prisoners can shade off 15 percent of their sentences if longer than a year.

Upon release from federal custody, T.I. will pay a $100,000 fine and have to serve another 500 hours of community service. The rapper is expected to turn himself into authorities by May 19. - Devin Chanda