Judge ignores rapper's pleas for mercy after drugs arrest
Source: Agencies |
October 17, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
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A federal judge revoked rapper T.I.'s probation on Friday and ordered him back to prison for 11 months following his arrest last month in California on suspicion of drug possession.
The Atlanta native, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr, was on probation after serving 10 months behind bars on federal weapons charges.
"I think Mr Harris had had about the limit of second chances," Judge Charles Pannell Jr said, according to a report by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
During the hearing, T.I. begged the judge not to send him back to prison, saying he needed to get help for drug addiction. He told the judge he "screwed up" and pleaded for mercy.
"I screwed up big time, and I'm sorry. I'm truly and sincerely sorry. I don't want and I don't need to use drugs anymore. I want them out of my life," Harris told the judge, the newspaper reported.
Pannell wasn't swayed by the rapper's plea.
The judge had said T.I.'s sentence was an "experiment" he hoped to replicate if it worked. The rapper was allowed to stay out of prison while performing 1,000 hours of community service, mostly talking with schoolchildren about the dangers of gangs, drugs and violence.
"You certainly dumped a lot of smut on the whole experiment," Pannell told T.I.
The Grammy Award-winning artist is one of the biggest names in hip-hop, with multiple platinum-selling albums and singles, production credits and roles in films like "ATL" and "American Gangster."
After the hearing, US Attorney Sally Yates said: "We had hoped that this would be a new, innovative opportunity. We're not giving up on Mr Harris, but if you veer off the road of redemption, there are consequences."
Last week, Atlanta police said T.I. helped them talk a suicidal man down from a skyscraper. The rapper heard about the man on the radio and drove over to see if he could help.
The man agreed to come down from the 22-story building in exchange for a few minutes with the rapper, authorities said.
T.I. rejected suggestions that his intervention was a stunt to gain advance favor with the court.
The Atlanta native, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr, was on probation after serving 10 months behind bars on federal weapons charges.
"I think Mr Harris had had about the limit of second chances," Judge Charles Pannell Jr said, according to a report by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
During the hearing, T.I. begged the judge not to send him back to prison, saying he needed to get help for drug addiction. He told the judge he "screwed up" and pleaded for mercy.
"I screwed up big time, and I'm sorry. I'm truly and sincerely sorry. I don't want and I don't need to use drugs anymore. I want them out of my life," Harris told the judge, the newspaper reported.
Pannell wasn't swayed by the rapper's plea.
The judge had said T.I.'s sentence was an "experiment" he hoped to replicate if it worked. The rapper was allowed to stay out of prison while performing 1,000 hours of community service, mostly talking with schoolchildren about the dangers of gangs, drugs and violence.
"You certainly dumped a lot of smut on the whole experiment," Pannell told T.I.
The Grammy Award-winning artist is one of the biggest names in hip-hop, with multiple platinum-selling albums and singles, production credits and roles in films like "ATL" and "American Gangster."
After the hearing, US Attorney Sally Yates said: "We had hoped that this would be a new, innovative opportunity. We're not giving up on Mr Harris, but if you veer off the road of redemption, there are consequences."
Last week, Atlanta police said T.I. helped them talk a suicidal man down from a skyscraper. The rapper heard about the man on the radio and drove over to see if he could help.
The man agreed to come down from the 22-story building in exchange for a few minutes with the rapper, authorities said.
T.I. rejected suggestions that his intervention was a stunt to gain advance favor with the court.
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