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Rapper T.I. Arrested on Federal Gun Charges
Rapper T.I. (real name: Clifford Harris) was arrested in Atlanta Saturday afternoon by ATF agents on charges of buying illegal machine guns, just hours before he was scheduled to appear at the BET Awards show. Agents said the rapper was arrested as he accepted delivery of three machine guns and two silencers from a bodyguard. He is due in court Monday.
Shortly after his arrest a federal search warrant was executed on Harris’ home in College Park. While conducting the search of T.I.’s home agents allegedly discovered three rifles, two pistols and a revolver in a walk-in closet in Harris’ bedroom. Five of the six guns were loaded.
A total of 12 guns (and two silencers) were recovered during the arrest and subsequent searches.
The arrest was the result of an undercover operation by ATF agents that started on October 2, when agents learned an individual was seeking to buy machine guns without registering them.
That individual, an unnamed bodyguard for T.I., was arrested on Wednesday after purchasing three machine guns, two silencers and a pistol
After his arrest the buyer agreed to become a cooperating witness (Snitch) for the government following his revelation to arresting agents that he was purchasing the machine guns for his boss, Clifford Harris, who as a convicted felon is legally not permitted to own a firearm. The CW had been working as a bodyguard for T.I. for the past three months. As of now, T.I.’s attorney can’t reveal the bodyguard’s name.
“This convicted felon allegedly was trying to add several machine guns to an already large and entirely illegal arsenal of guns,” David E. Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement.
T.I. has since been informally charged with one federal felony count of possession of unregistered machine guns (and silencers) and two federal felony counts of possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He is currently being held in federal custody and will make his initial appearance in the United States Courthouse in Atlanta tomorrow (October 15th).
