T.I. Begins Year-and-a-Day Prison Sentence

Rapper T.I., real name Clifford Harris, turned himself in to Arkansas federal prison officials on Wednesday (May 27) to begin serving a 366-day prison sentence imposed on him following his conviction on federal weapons charges.

The Grammy-winning rapper, a convicted felon, had originally faced up to 20 years in prison following his arrest by federal agents in October of 2007 after having his bodyguard purchase machine guns and silencers for him (it’s illegal for individuals with felony convictions to own or possess firearms), but reached a plea deal with prosecutors back in March that allowed him to serve only one year and one day in prison, pay a fine of $100,000, complete 500 hours of community service and go a nation-wide anti-violence speaking tour (he previously served a year of house arrest).

Harris is serving his time in general population at the low-security wing of the Forrest City Federal Correctional Complex in Forrest City, Arkansas.

Weeks before turning himself in, Harris married his long-time girlfriend (former member of the R&B group Xscape), Tameka ‘Tiny‘ Cottle, the mother of 2 of his 5 children, in a private ceremony in Miami, with an unnamed source telling Essence.com, “All I am allowed to say is that T.I. and Tiny are officially husband and wife.”