Photo via AJC
We all knew it was coming…after pleading guilty to illegal firearms possession and being a convicted felon with a firearmm, T.I. will be sentenced tomorrow, Friday, March 27th to serve his prison time. Although Federal sentencing guidelines recommended that Tip serve at least four years and nine months behind bars, his guilty plea agreement allows him to only serve 1 year and a day.
The extra day means T.I. can carve 15 percent off of his sentence with good behavior. Under U.S. Bureau of Prison rules, inmates can earn such credit only if they are sentenced to longer than a year in prison. T.I. should serve an estimated 298 days ? or a little less than 10 months. He is expected to get credit for the two weeks he sat in jail after his arrest and before posting a $3 million bond.
T.I.?s defense team worked out the deal with federal prosecutors, which basically used his celebrity status to spread the word about the pitfalls of crime, drugs and gangs through community service. While out on bond, Tip performed over 1,000 hours of community service and even developed a reality show detailing is efforts, MTV’s Road to Redemption.
“T.I. has fulfilled his part of the bargain…[He] took this opportunity and ran with it beyond anyone?s expectations.? ~ Steve Sadow, Tip’s Attorney
A sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday by T.I.?s defense team says the rapper has complied with all the requirements of his plea agreement. This includes serving 300 days of home confinement, attending more than 260 events and earning 1,006 hours of community service credit.
T.I. has been to 25 states and spoken to tens of thousands of teens and adults.
Over the past year, he went to 58 schools, 12 Boys and Girls Clubs, nine churches and other community functions. He was visited two Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, one in Columbus and another in DeKalb County.
After T.I. spoke to 160 high school teenagers at the Georgia Supreme Court, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears called the rapper?s presentation ?outstanding.?
?You have the courage to carefully search your soul, oftentimes wrestling with demons that the rest of us are terrified to disturb,? Sears wrote in a letter attached to the sentencing memo. ?I am sure that you have touched many young lives.? (Source)
