By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
LOS ANGELES — Declaring that T.I. “has had about the limit of second chances,” a federal judge on Friday sentenced the rapper and actor to 11 more months in prison for violating his probation.
He will begin serving his time at a later date.
T.I., whose name is Clifford Harris Jr., asked for leniency.
“I screwed up,” said Harris, wearing a three-piece gray suit. “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.”
U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr. was unmoved. “The worst thing is this case was an experiment,” Pannell said.
But then Pannell looked at Harris and said, “You certainly dumped a lot of smut on the whole experiment.”
Pannell had sentenced Harris to a year and a day in prison for his 2007 arrest on weapons charges. The unprecedented deal shaved almost four years off a potential sentence, provided Harris perform 1,000 hours of community service. The service included visits with schoolchildren to speak out against violence, gangs and drugs.
T.I. finished his time in prison and a halfway house earlier this year and was still on probation when he was arrested Sept. 1 in Los Angeles.
He and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, were taken into custody during a traffic stop in West Hollywood in which deputies said they smelled a strong odor of marijuana from inside the car. They were soon released on bond.
U.S. Attorney Sally Yates said she supported the initial deal and believed
T.I. had reached large numbers of youth.
But Yates told Pannell the rapper already had submitted two diluted urine samples before his arrest and initially lied to a probation officer about the five pills of Ecstasy found in his pocket when he was arrested. After his arrest, Harris tested positive for opiates, Yates said. She asked the judge to sentence Harris to two years.
Ed Garland, one of Harris’ lawyers, said the rapper has long been addicted to drugs, and after having seven root canals and three teeth extracted early this year began taking prescription painkillers that “brought back an experience he had escaped from.”
Pannell told Harris he will be on probation again after his release and could get up to three years more time if he commits another offense. And he told the rapper that while on probation the next time, he is not to drive a car.
“He is not going to be found cruising the streets of L.A. again ... while serving my sentence,” the judge said.
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution